Song, by Toad

Well the truly mental Edinburgh August schedule is nearly past and I have to confess that, for the purpose of writing this post anyway, that is something of a relief.  This week I am involved in a couple of things – firstly, Thursday’s Born to be Wide in the Speakeasy at Cabaret Voltaire, Olaf Furniss’s regular night of chat and help and networking and stuff like that.  This week I have been asked to put together a playlist of unsigned Edinburgh bands for the Wheel of Fortune.  There’s something of a grey area in that signed/unsigned stuff, so I might cheat slightly and take the opportunity to plug Song, by Toad bands, which is highly dishonourable.  But then, I am a highly dishonourable man, so what do you expect.

Secondly, I have put together a lineup for Sneaky Pete’s Edge Festival stuff, including brand new Fife indie characters Ambulances, whose debut album I am really enjoying, as well as Art Fag, and the excellent Enfant Bastard.  It’s  a bit more of a loud and scruffy lineup to those you might be used to, but we all need to quit being so fucking delicate from time to time.  I may also do a spot of DJing, but hopefully the true masters will take over before anything too serious needs to be accomplished.  Any volunteers to help out?

[EDIT: Whoops, like a fuckwit I forgot the excellent Shipping Forecast Garden Party.  It's between 1 and 7pm at the Peartree (ie perfect for pre Toad Night bevvying) and you will be entertained by the splendid Woodenbox, Zoey Van Goey, The Stormy Seas and Come in Tokyo, amongst others.  Sorry for missing this one, lads.]

Wednesday 26th August 2009: Dinosaur Pile-Up & The Curators at Sneaky Pete’s.

I don’t know too much about Dinosaur Pile-Up, but I quite like some of the stuff I’ve heard.  It’s quite NME-friendly indie rock, but I remember rather liking a good few of their earliest tunes, although I’ll admit I’ve somewhat taken my eye off them since.

Dinosaur Pile-Up – Love is a Boat and We’re Sinking

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Thursday 27 August 2009: Malcolm Middleton & The Red Well at Cabaret Voltaire.

Do I need to tell you anything about Malcolm Middleton?  I shouldn’t, really, should I.

Malcolm Middleton – Fuck it, I Love You

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Friday 28th August 2009:  Frank Turner & Sam Beer at Cabaret Voltaire.

Frank Turner’s early solo stuff put me quite strongly in mind of Billy Bragg.  I really liked it, but I have to confess I haven’t seen him for a while now, so all I can tell you is that his newer stuff appears to embracing a more rounded, full rock ‘n’ roll sound.

Frank Turner – The Real Damage

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Saturday 29th August 2009: Penny Black Remedy, The Red Well, The Stormy Seas, Fanattica & All at Sea at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

The Stormy Seas and Fanattica I know and can recommend.  The others sound quite promising too, and Henry’s is bound to be a bargain, unlike some of the shinier venues in the city.  Should be a good night, this one.

The Stormy Seas – Blood on the Carpet

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Sunday 30th August 2009: Song, by Toad Night at Sneaky Pete’s, with Enfant Bastard, Ambulances & Art Fag.

You never really know what you’re going to get with Enfant Bastard, but I will say that I have never seen it be bad, and when he’s good he’s fucking amazing.  Art Fag, whose side project Meursault are doing quite well too, will support, as will the very-promising-indeed Ambulances.

Ambulances – What I Thought Of

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There’s not much of a unifying theme to this podcast, but there are a healthy number of breaking tracks in the playlist, so I guess calling it the Newcast will suffice for want of anything more inspired.

There’s new tracks from the impending singles by Kid Canaveral and The Left Outsides, a good few new bands you’ve never heard of, a couple of JC’s selections for the Toad Records Launch Night and some of the tracks from the sampler that I gave away at the party itself.

There’s also the first Recorded and Produced by Toad song in the world: Fearing Lothian by Uhersky Brod.  The band are friends of mine and we used the Toad Sessions recording equipment to put togethera demo for them.  It’s the first time I’ve ever recorded anything, so I presume there must be all sorts of issues with it but, well, you’ve got to start somewhere.  It’s a cracking song, whatever I’ve ended up doing to it.

So I hope you enjoy this rather disjointed collection of songs, because for all the lack of any real coherence it’s a good collection of songs nonetheless.

Toadcast #31 – The Newcast

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01. Cinerama – Health & Efficiency (03.57)
02. David Cronenburg’s Wife – My Ukrainian Girlfriend (12.39)
03. The Ukrainians – Batya (Bigmouth Strikes Again) (16.14)
04. The Lucksmiths – T-Shirt Weather (21.34)
05. Porlolo – There is No I in Athens (26.22)
06. Uhersky Brod – Fearing Lothian (33.17)
07. Sparrow & the Workshop – Grizzly Bear (38.46)
08. The Futureheads – The Beginning of the Twist (43.24)
09. Kid Canaveral – Teenage Fanclub Song (47.11)
10. The Left Outsides – The Third Light (53.15)
11. King Creosote – Ear Against the Wireless (61.34)
12. Eagleowl – Blanket (64.50)
13. Rob St. John – Domino (72.22)
14. Les Enfant Bastard – Plastic Bag (79.27)
15. Dinosaur Pile-Up – My Rock ‘n’ Roll Demo (85.43)
16. Computer vs. Banjo – Give Up on Ghosts (95.06)