Winecast because after soberly recording these on a Saturday afternoon for the last couple of years, I’m recording this after a bottle of wine on a Sunday evening for a change. So don’t expect coherence, but it honestly isn’t all that bad.
Mrs. Toad and I were down looking at the Port O’ Leith Motor Boat Club today, wondering if we might buy the place, move in and try and turn it into the kind of recording space and performance space we already try and use our house as. It’s a great building, but I am not entirely certain how popular a place in Newhaven might prove to be to Edinburgh people reluctant to go more than a block or two for their musicfunz.
Anyhewww, here we have another ten songs of unbelievable brilliance, for which you will no doubt be enormously grateful and umm *cough cough* well, you’re more than welcome.
01. Prize Pets – It Takes Time (00.09)
02. Ian Humberstone – House on the Hill (07.34)
03. Waiters – Tomorrowland (15.05)
04. Former Bullies – Golden Chains (20.21.)
05. Talvihorros – Beta (26.39)
06. Palms – Wolf (37.23)
07. Burning Yellows – Chopsticks (42.32)
08. Debutant – Yeah! Currahee! (51.00)
09. The Japanese War Effort – Dreaming of a New Labour (54.49)
10. King Creosote & John Hopkins – Bats in the Attic (Unravelled) (62.52)
You know what’s on this week? Nothing! Nada. Zip. Diddly. Bupkis. So I suggest you go to the movies, read a book, sit outside in the sun (if it lasts) or whatever the fuck else it was I used to do before getting so sucked into the world of music.
There’s The Bellrays at Cabaret Voltaire on Thursday, I guess, but I have only ever heard a song or two by them I’ve really been into. I think the real highlight of the week will be the Live Lounge at the Electric Circus, which has Finn LeMarinel and Debutant on the bill, amongst others. I’ve hummed and hawed about Debutant in the past, but I’ve been listening to his album a fair bit recently (free, here) and really enjoying it.
Shortly, however, there will be this, and what better time to tell you about it than a slow gig week:
Acoustic music throughout the afternoon in the Anatomy Lecture Room
Spend the first Sunday of the Fringe hanging out in Edinburgh’s most unusual new bar: Summerhall’s Dissection Room. Grab a drink, listen to some fine music and buy lots of great records from some of Scotland’s best loved record labels and bands.
Including stalls from Chemikal Underground; De-Fence Records; Fence Records; FOUND; Gerry Loves Records; LuckyMe; Retreat!; Song, By Toad Records and more to be announced.
Funnily enough, I’ve been talking to Kev from Avalanche about this, but unbeknownst to me Tommy from FOUND was having the exact same chat independently, and has actually got his shit together a lot quicker than I did. The idea is that Scottish labels bring along their wares to sell, record shops come along with older Scottish music, as well as a any self-releases or single-release label stuff or labels who can’t be arsed to come along themselves, and the whole day includes all sorts of live performances and DJ slots from the Scottish independent music community.
It should be a blast, and hopefully the catalyst for a yearly event celebrating the independent music scene, the actual physical objects which are made, and the people whose work goes into making it all happen.
If you’re a shop, label, or self-releasing band and you want to get involved, email Tommy here: tommy@foundtheband.com
[This week's Sunday Supplement is a personal message from Phil Quirie]
Hello boys and girls!
I’m not exactly sure just how to start this transmission off, so forgive me if it seems poorly structured, but I owe a lot of people some serious gratitude, appreciation, and thanks.
Why? Well, as a fair amount of you may know, there was an appeal launched recently called Let’s Buy Phil’s Guitar, which was an effort to raise enough funds to save my guitar from a very lucky ebay bidder. I guess I should write a brief background and overview as to how this situation arose.
I have been friends with Neil Pennycook and Meursault for a number of years – probably since around 2005. I was introduced to Neil via a mutual friend who Neil had met at art college (the living legend that is “Party Marty”). I was aware of Neil’s music, but had never listened. Then, a few months later, our mutual friend instigated a gathering of souls for his birthday celebrations, with the venue to be Edinburgh. That night, a two-piece Meursault consisting of Neil and Fraser played a show in Bannermans. I was utterly gob-smacked with what I saw and heard, and from then on became a proper fanboy, snapping up the debut EP, and frequently putting on shows in Aberdeen and inviting them up to play. My friendship with the band grew until I was invited to join the band, about two years ago. Initially, although hugely flattered (and confused – why me!?), I resisted because I was in a steady job in Aberdeen, along with great friends and family. Due to liquidation, I lost said job, and Neil then asked me to join the band again. This time, I couldn’t resist and I upped sticks to Edinburgh and officially joined Meursault. That was almost one year ago.
Given that Meursault were my favourite ever band, I was willing to take a lot of risks and work really hard touring with them and recording the second album. With this, came the realisation that I wouldn’t be able to hold down a full-time job and commit to touring. But I was still willing to put my heart, soul and money into Meursault. So I tried to strike a balance between temporary agency jobs and the band. This balance is very difficult to calibrate, as any musician will testify, and it eventually came to a head: in order to survive, I had to sell off any assets I may own. It just so happens that the only material possession of any value was my music gear, so the decision was made to sell my Fender Jaguar guitar. This decision did not come lightly, but heck, I have rent and tax to pay, as well as a stomach that seems to want food from time to time. So I put the guitar on ebay, and I received a call that night from Neil, claiming that “he and friends would raise the money”, so long as I agreed to take the guitar off ebay. As an overly proud individual, I tried to resist, but he was adamant that, as a friend, he could do this for me and that others are willing to help out and that “you’d do the same for me, Phil.” And he was correct. Thus, Let’s Buy Phil’s Guitar was created.
Now, I don’t know just who all were involved in the creation of this, but I owe Neil, Dylan and Matthew some serious handshakes and manly embraces for their part in this astounding example of community spirit and friendship. But most of all, I owe every single donor (regardless of amount donated) a large amount of thanks and gratitude. The fact that the guitar has been saved is, frankly, nothing short of completely overwhelming. Friends, Meursault fans, Debutant fans, and anyone else who contributed: I thank you with all my heart. You’ve not only saved me, but a part of Meursault, too.
As a thank you, I will record a digital EP consisting of a couple of acoustic Debutant tracks, a Meursault cover (would it be considered a ‘cover’?), and a cover of Red House Painters’ Song for a Blue Guitar, and every donor will receive the EP. This will only be available to those who donated. Expect it within a month or so.
Whilst I’m here, I would also like to thank all the guys in Meursault, who have welcomed me into the band like a brother and supported me. And, despite the heartache and struggle, it’s been 110% worth it to be in the privileged position of being able to play music with them.
First things first, this post is me asking a favour from a friend, but not from everyone. A lot of people who read this site do so from a long way away, physically or figuratively, and most of you can probably ignore this post as it really isn’t your problem.
For the rest, Phil is a good friend of mine who has recently moved down to Edinburgh from Aberdeen, and in doing so has put himself in pretty dire financial straits. So dire that he recently put his prize Fender Jaguar up for sale, and you might want to ask a musician if you don’t know how much of a wrench that must have been for the guy.
We’ve all wavered on this, honestly. Partly, sometimes people just can’t afford things, and you can’t have a big teary appeal every time life is not as sentimental as we would like it to be. On the other hand, I have been in pretty rotten financial states myself from time to time in the past, and without fail my friends have fished me out of the shit every time, despite there really being nothing in it for them at all.
Phil isn’t just a good mate, he has done an awful lot for me since he moved down here, and I owe him a lot for all the extra work and help and support he has provided, and I am far from alone in this. So we had a look at the actual sums, and realised that pretty much anyone would happily buy a mate a pint, and if we could find about a hundred and fifty such people to donate the price of a pint we could actually buy Phil’s guitar for about as much money each as anyone would happily lose down the back of the sofa without a second thought.
So anyone who has a reason to be grateful to Phil, be it in his capacity as promoter under the name of Slanted and Enchanted, or as guitarist in Meursault or his own musical project Debutant, or just because he is a fucking lovely guy, it would be nice if you wanted to help. He’s a proud fucker, so talking him into this wasn’t exactly easy, and in the words of Lando Calrissian: “Come on Han old buddy, don’t let me down.”
I know this doesn’t concern most of you, so please feel free to ignore it and I hope you don’t feel intruded upon, but for those of you who wish to help out, please go here and make a donation.
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.
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, I am now eight working days away from shiftless unemployment becoming a wildly successful entrepreneur, and as mental a move as this might be I am very, very excited to get going. I am an obssessive type, as you probably know by now, and I need projects to get just a little bit too focussed on, so this should be perfect.
Anyhow, the inital lineup for the Edge Festival has been announced. So far so moderately interesting, with bands like Eels, The Low Anthem, Broken Records and Beirut on the bill. These things tend to get better as they get closer, so I reckon that’s a pretty bloody solid start – now we just need to talk Eels into a Toad Session!
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.
In other news, The Pop Cop (see image, but with added sexy) is back online. After Google decided that simply being accused of something was at least as good as actually doing it and deleted the Pop Cop’s entire original site there was an extensive campaign on Jason’s behalf, but Google did precisely nothing. I know the appalling DMCA obliges them to remove material accused of copyright violation (not actually in violation of copyright, you understand, merely accused of being so) but it does not dictate their customer service policy, and I have to say their ‘fuck off customers’ approach is an interesting one. Not entirely novel of course, the music industry have been at it for years, but interesting nevertheless.
Oh, and in terms of festivals, the Leith Festival is now underway, with eagleowl and Blueflint at the Village tonight. That’s a really nice venue actually, and I really do recommend getting along if you can. The rest of the musical events can be found here, so have a dig through them – Leith is by some distance my favourite place for a pint in and around Edinburgh, and the Leith Festival will hopefully be less overrun by Southern students and their zany antics than the Edinburgh Festival. Zany fucking antics. Yeuch.
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.
As the sun makes a rather enthusiastic apperance at long fucking last, and our garden finally begins to bloom, I can think of little I would like to do so little as sitting in a dingy club listening to whiney indie kids complain about how shit their life is and how no-one really understands them.
The Edinburgh weather is depressingly fickle however, so presumably by this afternoon it will be absolutely bucketing it down with rain, but for now the only thing I would really recommend you do this week is spend as much time outside as possible, shunning all music funs and enjoying the sunshine where you can get it. For the last five years I have been here we’ve had glorious Mays and stunning Junes and just as you start to think that this year it might just happen, it all turns to shit until early October, when we get a couple of pleasant weeks before the inevitable descent into eight months of fucking darkness once more.
This Sunday is of course the All Day Scottish Special at the Old Queen’s Head in London, where local (and less local) favourites Yusuf Azak, Rob St. John, eagleowl and Meursault will be playing at what is the official London launch party for Meursault’s new album All Creatures Will Make Merry. Any London Toads, it would be lovely to see you there.
Slanted and Enchanted promotions make their Edinburgh debut, with this three-act bill at the Roxy Room. Phil from Debutant is currently working on his debut album (there’s got to be an hilarious pun in there somewhere, I just can’t be arsed to think of it) at the moment and if his Facebook status updates are anything to go by, there could well be a self-released CD-R available at this show. Glissando are doing this tour as a two-piece, I believe, but don’t quote me on that because I am not entirely certain.
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.
Erm, is it permitted for a Scottish-based indie kid to confess that he was never that into Teenage Fanclub? Well I wasn’t, not that I listened to them enough to ever really know, but they are famous and they are popular and they get namechecked by bands all the time, and they are also playing in Edinburgh this week, so I thought I might as well mention it.
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.
Another famous band I am listing more because they seem to have had a lot of attention recently than that I am personally all that fussed about them. I’ve heard them do some brilliant stuff in their previous incarnation as the Winterset, but know absolutely nothing of their Mercury-bothering recent work.
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.
Ah, now this is more like it. The Wave Pictures are one of the best bands in Britain at the moment, as far as I personally am concerned. They have a new EP out rather soon – The Sweetheart EP – and their knack for simple tunes and bittersweet lyrics is clearly in the rudest of health. We even had the opportunity to record a Toad Session with them this weekend, but as most of the team who actually record the sessions will be down in London that was sadly impossible.
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.
Never mind fucking jetpacks, SPRING is what I was fucking well promised. A few weeks ago I awoke to a pleasantly mild morning and strolled into work without ducking the head or turning up the collar and genuinely believed that Spring was on its way.
It wasn’t, of course, it was just Mother Nature fucking with my head. I remember last year the crocuses and snowdrops were out in January, it was that warm, whereas this year it is pretty much April and they are still not out in the shadier parts of the garden.
A couple of other things blooming, to stretch a metaphor slightly, are the venues of Edinburgh. After taking a while to get their new regime into place, the newly rechristened Roxy Rooms seem to have started to get some interesting bookings again. The Liquid Rooms, which burned to a crisp when the Indian restaurant above them caught fire something like a couple of years ago, are on the verge of being ready for reoccupation. I don’t know how soon, but hopefully in the next few months. And having been used quite heavily during Sunday’s Haddowfest it looks possible that Maggie’s Chambers might be considering booking a few more gigs.
Given that a music scene cannot thrive without venues to house it, and given that we’ve been really rather stretched not just for good venues but for people willing to book them in recent months, this all seems to be good news for local bands and labels. So it might be Springlike in a sense, even if it’s still fucking miserable and cold outside.
Benni Hemm Hemm was excellent at Homegame, with a three-piece brass section adding depth to his sound, and the last time I saw Tisso Lake I was really impressed both with Ian’s voice and his guitar-playing, which had a really nice sound to it. Tisso Lake will be in band rather than solo format tonight, with Skeleton Bob rounding off a really good lineup.
I had a quick listen to these guys and ‘fucking mental indie-pop’ is probably the only expression which springs to mind. It has a very 90s vibe to it as well, which you might either consider woefully unfashionable or on the verge of becoming the next big thing, depending how far along the invent-hate-rehash cycle you are with that particular decade’s aesthetic.
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.
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.
This is not just the launch night for the CAS/Debutant split 7″, but also for the brand spanking new label which is releasing it: Gerry Loves Records, from the team which brought you OfftheBeatenTracks.tv. They are apparently going to be focussing on releasing beautiful artefacts, which sounds like a terrible way to make money, but a splendid way to release music, as far as I am concerned.
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.
All I know of Admiral Fallow is that they are either the re-born, re-jigged or simply re-named Brother Louis Collective. The stuff on their MySpace page sounds quite promising and this might well be worth a punt.
It’s fairly quiet in Edinburgh this week, which is good for me, because I am so damn busy there’s almost no chance of me getting out of the house at all – I will be up to my neck in prints and album covers for Cold Seeds and for Trips and Falls, and stuffing promotional copies of albums into envelopes for Meursault and Loch Lomond. My brain feels liked an over-stuffed Filofax at the moment, and I keep writing down endless lists which look just like the list I wrote a day previously, just in case at any point my head bursts and everything spills out all over the floor.
I know the Filofax was presumably named after a bit of a bastardisation of the term file, and maybe even the words facts or even telefax, but I like to think the filo part came from the pastry, because that’s frequently what they ended up looking like.
My promise to myself, however, is that whatever happens I will be at the Japanese War Effort album launch party on Friday, but as that’s a small gig indeed I am not sure how public a gig this is, you’re best getting in touch with Jamie via the band’s MySpace if you want to go along.
You’ll also be thrilled to find out that Newton Faulkner are playing the Picture House this week – Newton Faulkner the band of whom regular commenter Bart once so memorably said: “To be fair, I wasn’t judging Newton Faulkner entirely on his Wikipedia entry. I was also taking into account his fucking ridiculous haircut.” which is one of my all-time favourite comments on this site ever in history, so much so that it has been immortalised in t-shirt form.
This is Music have recently gone weekly, which is good news. This weekend sees Aberdeen alumni Copy Haho and Debutant take the stage, with eagleowl in the middle. The lineup is a bit all over the place in a sense, but I am pretty sure all the bands really like one another’s music, so maybe it makes sense in a different way!
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.
Richmond Fontaine might be one of the most under-rated bands around. They play Americana, but it is at once so epic in its storytelling sweep, and so small and personal in its details, that you’re left with the impression of really grand vistas made believable by the tiny details in the foreground. It’s a gorgeous combination, and if you are vaguely interested in this kind of music I strongly recommend you get down to Cabaret Voltaire on Saturday.
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.
Mrs. Toad and I held our annual Christmas party on Saturday and I still feel wrecked. Fucking hell, that was some bash. I think the last gin and tonic was poured at something like half eight in the morning; I was like a zombie yesterday. Funnily enough, the cleaning up wasn’t really too bad, because basically most of it just went in bin-bags and the rest in the dishwasher. Still, I still have that kind of dazed feeling you get after these things. Mental. I think we deserve some sort of prize for truly epic parties after this one.
So, time for a nice gentle week this week I think, so I can recover nicely. What’s that you say? No fucking chance? No, thought not. This is December after all, and this week might the craziest of the lot.
Oh, and on Saturday we’re recording a Toad Session with eagleowl which is, frankly, brilliant. Clarissa’s double-bass rumbling through our living room might just scare the shite out of the cafe downstairs though!
Deerhoof are a bizarre combination of the tuneful and the fucking insane. Christ knows how that’ll translate into a live performance I have no idea, but I’m fascinated.
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.
After another crazy year, Broken Records return to play their first Edinburgh show since the Festival. A small venue like Cabaret Voltaire should give this an amazing atmosphere. When Broken Records go mental they really go mental, so come prepared to go berserk with them. And with Withered Hand and the Foxx on the bill as well, this has turned into something of a showcase of Edinburgh talent.
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 9th December 2009: Alastair Roberts & Benni Hemm Hemm at St Mark’s Unitarian Church.
Well I don’t know what to tell you about this, but I believe it is going to be a collaborative evening rather than a straight up two-band bill.
Stuffs
Eagleowl* are launching both their new single Sleep the Winter and their new record label Kilter at this show. The single itself is fucking gorgeous, frankly, and I can’t wait to see both Dan and Jill as well. Having only seen either of them play with full bands recently it will make for a really lovely evening – the perfect pace for pre-owlage.
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.
The Bowery is closing, the bar must be emptied and the tunes are fucking amazing. Apart Edinburgh newcomer Tom Western, a special set by Rory from Broken Records and an sadly rare (curse you, Oxford!) performance by Rob St. John we will have full sets by Toad Records heroes Inspector Tapehead and Jesus H. Foxx. I’ll be there for mince pies and some mulled wine earlyish so feel free to come along too.
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.
Euan has put together an amazing lineup of unsigned talent for this all day bash at the Wee Red. It’s amazingly cheap too, at a mere five pounds for normal people and three for either students or those intending to come on to the Toad Night at the Bowery later on. Bands playing include Debutant, Jonnie Common, Conquering Animal Sound, Mitchell Museum and the Scottish Enlightenment so for those who don’t fancy our Christmas Party (cunts) this is the perfect alternative. Or for those who want to start their revelling early, of course.
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.
*It’s the start of a sentence, so it gets capitalised – deal with it.
Having made such an almighty pig’s ear of last week’s listings, I find myself wondering if the gigmosphere really is as thin as it looks this week, or whether I’ve just managed to make another spectacular arse of spotting the good ‘uns again.
There’s something a little different happening, actually, because Joey Comeau and the Loose Teeth Press are going to be at the Bowery as part of their reading tour tonight, which sounds rather interesting. Also, the Charity Baw at the Roxy on Saturday looks like a bit of a spectacular, so it’s not actually as quiet a week as it looks.
Tuesday 17th November 2009: King Charles play the first Fresh Air Tuesday at the GRV.
Fresh Air student radio are taking over the GRV on Tuesdays this year, putting on something a little different each week, and kicking things off this week with King Charles. I don’t know them at all, but I have dug up a few songs and they sound really rather good. Definitely worth checking out.
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.
This will be a quirky night of music, all quite gentle in most senses, but nevertheless a little disturbing in others. There will be a lot of acoustic loveliness and quite a bit of slightly eccentric electronic trickery as well.
Saturday 21st November 2009: Charity Baw at the Roxy Art House.
Pretty much every bastard is playing this one. There are local heroes such as Withered Hand, Aberfeldy, Benni Hemm Hemm and Come On Gang but, somewhat more intriguingly from my perspective, there will also be the amazing (The Real) Tuesday Weld. That sounds a bit hard on the local contingent, but I don’t mean it that way, simply that I have been a Tuesday Weld fan for bloody ages and never once had the chance to sample their visually sumptuous live show. Yes, yes I did just use the word sumptuous. Sorry. What I basically mean is that they use their rather excellent videos as a backdrop to the live performance, which sound brilliant. And at least a little sumptuous.
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.
This is my gig of the week, I think. I’ve not properly seen any of these bands live and I have been twitching to see all three for a while. Debutant’s atmospheric guitar layering will probably be quite distinct from the more traditional songwriting of the other two bands, but it looks like this should be a good ‘un.
I cognize that doing of emergent essays or narrations is ponderous and valueless process wholly. I dont require routing uncommon literature, to tackle varied quotes and definitions, guiding to these operates. It is edit for me chiefly to trace essay writing service underground. The fascinating ordered projects are educated. I am precisely amazed and principally I have prepared marks.
Winecast because after soberly recording these on a Saturday afternoon for the last couple of years, I’m recording this after a bottle of wine on a Sunday evening for a change. So don’t expect coherence, but it honestly isn’t all that bad.
Having made such an almighty pig’s ear of last week’s listings, I find myself wondering if the gigmosphere really is as thin as it looks this week, or whether I’ve just managed to make another spectacular arse of spotting the good ‘uns again.
