Deerhoof – Deerhoof vs Evil

I think it is now time for me to finally accept that I am just not that into Deerhoof.  When I first started to really become a part of the wider blogosphere (as opposed to just a random weirdo writing for his own satisfaction in an abandoned corner of the internet) Friend Opportunity was just being released, and there was a fair bit of buzz around this band.

I loved half of friend opportunity, but I haven’t really liked anything since, for some reason. Maybe it lacked the joyous wildness of Friend Opportunity, and maybe I just only have a limited capacity to enjoy this kind of frantic, unusual music.

Deerhoof – The Merry Barracks

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Destroyer – Kaputt

Talking of when I was just getting involved in the wider blogosphere, Destroyer, and in particular the gorgeous song European Oils, were massive around that time.

Since then Destroyer have released the awesome, quarter of an hour long Bay of Pigs, and I was really expecting something challenging and interesting when this release was announced.  What we got instead, unfortunately, is a fairly drab, soft-pop affair which has a certain louche charm, but not anything like enough bite or personality to really engage me, unfortunately.

Destroyer – Blue Eyes

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Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean

From one awesome segue into another: while we’re on the subject of soft pop, what the fuck has happened to Iron & Wine?  I really don’t get it, this album is also a rather mid-paced, comfortable pop record with a touch of cod-soul about some of the backing vocals.

Progression is one thing, but if the flipside to the current fashion for lo-fi scuzzy guitar noise is the kind of slick, smarmy stuff that this and the Destroyer record are made of then please count me out.  I really thought this album might be the one where I really get into Iron & Wine, having never really sat down and given them proper time before, but this is just horrible.

Iron & Wine – Tree By the River

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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!

Tuesday 8th December 2009: Deerhoof at the Bongo Club.

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.

Deerhoof – Chandelier Searchlight

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Wednesday 9th December 2009: Broken Records, Withered Hand & Jesus H. Foxx at Cabaret Voltaire.

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.

Broken Records – Nearly Home

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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

Friday 11th December 2009: eagleowl Single Launch at the Bowery, with Dan from Withered Hand & Jill from Sparrow & the Workshop.

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.

eagleowl – Know by Now

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Saturday 12th December 2009: Song, by Toad Christmas Party/Last Night at the Bowery with Jesus H. Foxx, Inspector Tapehead, Rory Sutherland, Thomas Western & Rob St. John.

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.

Inspector Tapehead – A Fillet of Banjo

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Saturday 12th December 2009: Trampoline All-Day Event at the Wee Red Bar.

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.

Mitchell Museum – Take the Tongue Out

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*It’s the start of a sentence, so it gets capitalised – deal with it.

It’s Fresh Air time again, and once again Ruth and I have a splendid live session.  We might even have Ruth’s voice back, just to make matters even more special.

This week The Pineapple Chunks are going to play live in session for us.  And instead of being sensible and doing it acoustically we are going to end up having the full band in the studio and are going to just have to try and find some way of arranging the mics so that we pick it all up.  Basically, I think we are going to just have to have two room mics and ‘mix’ the sound by having people move closer or further away from them, much like the way everything was recorded in the olden days!

So, for too-many-people-in-a-tiny-little-studio mayhem, tune in from seven and see how we get on.  You can always point and laugh if it goes horribly wrong.

On air 7pm-8.30pm gmt – listen live here.

Here is this week’s tracklisting, which will be updated live as we go along.  Feel free to heckle in the comments section.

1. The Strokes – The Modern Age
2. Interpol – PDA
3. The Pineapple Chunks – Gyroscope + Look Back in Horror (Live in Session)
4. Deerhoof – Snoopy Waves
5. Stephen Malkmus – Walk Into the Mirror
6. Erik Gundel – Lake On My Roof
7. The Pineapple Chunks – The Diagonal (Live in Session)
8. Khaya – Duet (Single Version)
9. Sparrow & the Workshop – Into the Wild
10. The Maxwell Cult – Sound is a Place
11. Trips and Falls – How Do You Do
12. The Pineapple Chunks – Man Love (Live in Session)
13. Huey Lewis & the News – Trouble in Paradise (Live)
14. The Pineapple Chunks – Art Storage (Live in Session)

Last week’s session was with the occasionally mental, occasionally hilarious and occasionally joyous Japanese War Effort.  Interview podcast, downloadable session tracks and videos are all after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s Toadcast has no theme at all because, erm… well, frankly they’re difficult to come up with and therefore seem just a tiny little bit like hard work.  So given I’m podcasting once a week now, I am not going to be arsed coming up with some immaculately scripted (ah ha haaa!) arrangement once every seven days, so this week it’s really just a brief tour of inbox fodder.

This weekend there are loads of good things happening, not least a performance by Mumford & Sons at the Voodoo Rooms, and a first look for me at what could potentially become an excellent new venue in Edinburgh.  That’s a secret though, so no more details than that.

So, for now enjoy the Soulcast, so named for no better reason than that the first couple of songs have the word soul in the title.  Piss-poor excuse really, isn’t it.

Toadcast #41 – The Soulcast

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01. Nat Johnson – Dirty Rotten Soul (02.39)
02. Maxwell Panther – Lost Soul on a Roll (06.21)
03. Deerhoof – Chandelier Searchlight (11.40)
04. Aberfeldy – Claire (15.01)
05. Hot Lava – Blue Dragon (21.11)
06. Deathbot – The Cold Wind Revival (23.20)
07. Lambchop – Sharing a Gibson With Martin Luther King Jr. (28.41)
08. Wilco – Company in My Back (35.45)
09. Woodenbox – Twisted Mile (39.17)
10. Pale Young Gentlemen – There is a Place (46.33)
11. Japanese Motors – Spendin’ Days (54.52)