Well the Sounds From the Other City headache has just about worn off, and I am back in my chair at Toad Hall staring at the internet and wondering what pearls of wisdom I can possibly add to its infinite pages of bounteous goodness this fine morning. Let’s face it, if the internet doesn’t already contain all the writing in the world, then it can’t be bloody far off, can it. But hooray, here’s more.

For obvious reasons my focus will be on the two Sparrow and the Workshop album launches this week – on Wednesday at Mono in Glasgow with Strike the Colours, and on Thursday at The Caves in Edinburgh with the brilliant Magic Arm. The tickets will be available for £6 from Brown Paper Tickets up until about twelve hours in advance of the event itself, and if you miss that then they’ll be £8 on the door. Not a massive difference, I grant you, but I thought we should at least try. Anyhow, Sparrow are pretty fearsome live these days, and if you doubt me this is what Clash Magazine had to say about their London show recently.

So, self-serving headline-hogging aside, what else is going on this week? Well it turns out there’s plenty, actually. The other Very Exciting One from my perspective is the eagleowl album launch on Friday, at the Pleasance Theatre. After two Sparrow and the Workshop gigs I think I will be entirely ready to kick back and relax and watch a show which it is entirely someone else’s job to be stressed about.  Eagleowl’s slowcore has developed a distinctly epic krautyness recently, and I would imagine there will be a bit of a whirlwind finale to this gig. Also, about fucking time too, guys, but congratulations. It’s a fine record.

The Electric Circus have a couple of good gigs this week as well, with Treetop Flyers‘ choral Americana on Wednesday, and Adrian Crowley’s hushed minimalism on Friday. Personally, for obvious reasons, I can attend neither of these gigs, but they both look good to me, and I would recommend them.

[Edit: I am a fucking idiot, I forgot that Hookers For Jesus and Edinburgh School For the Deaf are at Sneaky Pete's on Saturday as well!]

And that, my fine pixelly friends, would appear to be about it for this week.  Tune in next week when you’ll hear Nurse Piggy say…

This week is, of course, the week of Record Store Day where we hopefully remember that record shops are nice places to  spend time and money and resolve to go there more often, rather than just fight for the exclusive scraps scattered like breadcrumbs for pigeons. Understandably, most of the gig action this week is focussed on that very event, and naturally I am going to tell you that *cough cough* our stuff is by far the most awesome.

It is though.

We have the Beer vs. Records launch at Summerhall on Saturday evening, where all four bands on the Split 12″ will be playing. Full door price is £8, but if you spend money in a Scottish independent record shop on Record Store Day you can come in for £6. That goes down to £4 if you buy our new Split 12″ (this record, here) from a Scottish independent record shop.

During the day on the 20th there will be plenty of events as well. Over the road from VoxBox Music on St. Stephen’s Street there will be a whole day of live music in The Last Word cocktail bar. Playing will be all of the following: Mike Heron Band (feat members of The Incredible String Band and Trembling Bells), Adam Stafford, Wounded Knee, Rob St. John, eagleowl, Kid Canaveral (ish), Honeyblood and Magic Eye. I think it’s going to be brilliant. Meanwhile down at Elvis Shakespeare on Leith Walk Saint Max and the Fanatics will be playing, and after seeing them live at Wide Days last week I highly recommend them.

Finally, in non-Record Store Day news, we have two other excellent gigs taking place this weekend. Firstly, on Saturday (again – I know!) Brinksfest will be taking place down in Leith, with craft merchants, zine makers and all sorts, as well as the excellent lineup of Stanley Brinks, The Wave Pictures, Freschard, The Occasional Flickers and Saint Max and the Fanatics. This will all be taking place at Henderson Halls, which is a new one for me, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a gig being put on there before.

And finally, on Sunday we have the eccentric and awesome Thomas Truax coming to Henry’s Cellar Bar, with his homemade instruments which look a bit like something out of Batteries Not Included. It will also be your first chance to catch excellent Edinburgh newcomers Numbers are Futile live too, so I’d go, if I were you.

 The Gnomecast could have been called many, many things. It could have been called The Widecast after Wide Days, the Edinburgh-based music convention I attended in the middle of last week, and from the showcases at which two of the songs on this podcast were chosen. Equally, it could have been called the Witchcast, due to the fact that the vicious old Fucker of Working Britain is now a thing of the past.

In fact, now that I think about it, a whole podcast dedicated to anti-Thatcher songs would probably have been a distinct possibility, but my feelings on her death are not quite so clean cut. Yes, I am glad she is dead, but it’s more of a sense of relief, just a sort of feeling of peace now such a vindictive, spiteful cause of so much harm is finally gone, rather than the sort of air-punching, high-fiving glee which was in evidence after Osama Bin Laden was finally rubbed out.

But make no mistake, Thatcher was far more evil than Osama Bin Laden. Never mind domestic politics, her support for despots around the world was directly involved in the deaths of many, many more people than amateurs like Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden.  The fact that these people were mostly brown, or at least brownish, leads us to underestimate the horror for which she was responsible, but responsible she most certainly was. To be fair, of course, I don’t doubt that Hussein and Bin Laden would have been capable of far, far worse deeds had they had the power to actually carry them out, but I am not sure that should really be an excuse for the likes of Thatcher, Reagan, Bush and Blair.

Sorry, that really had nothing at all to do with gnomes, did it. Ah well, move along.

Toadcast #266 – The Gnomecast by Song, By Toad on Mixcloud

Direct download: Toadcast #266 – The Gnomecast

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01. Judy Garland – Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead (00.19)
02. M.J. Hibbett and the Validators (01.07)
03. eagleowl – Not Over (12.24)
04. The Pictish Trail – Wait Until (17.46)
05. Numbers are Futile – Justice is Light (and Blood) (27.37)
06. Law Holt – Hustle (34.30)
07. Garden of Elks – Floaty (42.07)
08. Siobhan Wilson – Reading You (45.10)
09. Kid Canaveral – Who Would Want to be Loved? (51.31)
10. Virgin of the Birds – Evening of Light (58.09)

 Ah, so here we all are, back on the internet where everything of note seems to take place these days.  Except this post of course.  Sorry about that.

Anyhow, as we gear up for SXSW, gaze at the sunshine outside and wonder if we can start anticipating Spring, and join the world in wondering if that damn eagleowl album is ever, ever going to be released* there is another week of gigs upon us.

Not that there’s all that much going this week actually, at least not all that much which I personally am that into, so it depends how much respect you have for my opinion I suppose.  If the answer is ‘basically none, I’m just bored at work and need to find someone on the internet to sneer at’ then, hey, you’re in for an amazing week. Alternatively, if you treat The Word of Toad with a sort of hushed, deified reverence then a/ I pity you and b/ you might find things a bit thin this week.

Anyhow, the highlight of the week for me looks to be the relaunch of Henry’s Cellar Bar. Don’t ask me why, but I love that place, and it’s splendid to be back doing Toad gigs there again this year.  There are new owners now though, you get ice and a slice in your G&T and someone’s even cleaned the floor and wiped the tables.  So in honour of this momentous event they are having a relaunch party on Saturday, with all sorts of bands playing. Go to it.

Other than that there are a few things which are probably on the fringes of my taste, but in which you may be interested: Hidden Orchestra at the Queen’s Hall, and The Stranglers at the HMV Picture House on Friday, and then Egyptian Hip Hop at the Electric Circus on Saturday.

* May, apparently. Or that’s what they’re promising this time.

 So, after a couple of awesome gigs (Randolph’s Leap and Paws) last week, I started to feel the live music bug again after a surprisingly long period without seeing any gigs but my own BAD FUN ones at Henry’s.

Nevertheless, a good run of stuff and the kind of weekend which felt like a little island of Spring in the middle of February seems to have cheered shit up around here and there are some fine things taking place this week to keep that particular bandwagon trundling along.

Things kick off with the Pictish Trail and eagleowl show at the Caves tomorrow night.  Apparently there’s a special secret opening act as a temptation to draw people down early, so take that as you will. Both the headline bands seem to have taken folk pop and spent the last couple of years torturing it into massive krauty wig-out endings so umm… well, you’ve been warned.  It will be brilliant.

As well as that, the Electric Circus has the awesomely-named ear-beasters Wet Nuns on Friday, as well as habitual ear-beasters the Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks on Saturday, although the Saturday gig will be all stripped back and acoustic. I’ve seen the Twilight Sad acoustic before and it was really, really good.  You know, just in case you were wondering.

And finally, there is also an interesting-looking wee show at the Banshee Labyrinth on Saturday with The Pheromoans, Shareholder and Ace Elementary bringing some very retro-sounding indie rock indeed.  Retro maybe, but they all sound really rather good, if you like your guitar music just a little bit slack, discordant and what the fuck did you expect anyway. Which of course I do, as you know.

I used to go on a lot more about my love for Tom Waits on this site.  In fact, I used to listen to Tom Waits a lot more than I have recently, if I’m being honest.  I’ve been so busy over the last couple of months that I’ve hardly had the time to sit down in the evening and put a record on, so I suppose I used to pretty much everything a lot more.

Anyhow, self-pitying rubbish aside, I will be back on Fresh Air Radio tonight 6-8pm, hopefully accompanied by Miss El Parks once more, although she will have to dash off to work a little early, leaving you with just me mumbling into the microphone and playing music you hate.  Sounds enticing, doesn’t it…

On air 6-8pm UK time – listen live here

However, in the meantime, seeing as this is Friday and seeing as we are presumably all a bunch of workshy skivers, why not fill in the answers to the five silly questions below and spend the rest of the afternoon talking shite on the internet with me before radio time.

I haven’t done radio in a while actually, and you know I am rather looking forward to it.

1. What band do you love the most and listen to the least.
2. What haven’t you done for ages that you rather miss.
3. Which defunct band do you miss the most?
4. Where will you be supping your first pints of Friday afternoon?
5. Song request for this or next week’s show, depending on timing/availability.

Tracklisting for the radio show will appear live below:

Gerry Loves Records
1. The Japanese War Effort – Our Land Could Be Your Life
2. Adam Stafford – Vanishing Tanks

Kingfisher Bluez
3. White Poppy – Mirage Man
4. Korean Gut – If You Want

Fence Records
5. The Pictish Trail – I Don’t Know Where to Begin
6. The Shivers – Irrational Love
7. eagleowl – Into the Fold

8. North American War – Geraniums on a Spit

Song, by Toad
9. Zed Penguin – Heathens
10. Dolfinz – Kitsch Craft

Fatcat Records
11. PAWS – Bloodline
12. Odonis Odonis – Hollandaze
13. Psychedelic Horseshit – Laced

14. The Hundredth Anniversary – Caroline

Icecapades
15. Daily Life – Alabaster
Life Dunk International
16. Water World – I Might Not No
Comfortable on a Tightrope
17. Apostille – The Journal
18. Toucans – Ice Cold
19  Golden Grrrls – Beige Beauty

Wow.  I am just – only just, mind you – about back in my right mind after the Fence Collective‘s awesome Away Game Festival on the Isle of Eigg.  After spending three days in the Inner Hebrides, embracing Scotland’s talent for wildly variable weather to its absolute fullest, we journeyed back yesterday, stopping off to record a Vic Galloway session for BBC Radio Scotland.

That meant we got back in around one in the morning, and after eight hours’ kip and a very long, very hot shower, I now feel just about ready to face the world again.  Not to take in on in a carpe diem, up and attem boy sort of a way, just ready, just about, to handle real life once more.

This podcast is, as I assume you will have noticed by now, going to be all about Away Game, with all but a couple of the songs by bands I saw play at the Festival.  And what a fucking awesome festival it was.  Well played Eigg, and well played Fence.

Direct download: Toadcast #234 – Away Game

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01. Water World – Catch Yrself (00.26)
02. King Creosote – Not One Bit Ashamed (07.09)
03. OLO Worms – Strays (17.55)
04. Y Niwl – Undegnaw (22.09)
05. Rob St. John – The Whites of Our Eyes (29.15)
06. Scott Rudd – Bullshit Love (38.01)
07. Jo Schornikow – Bird’s Nest (39.47)
08. The Twilight Sad – I Became a Prostitute (Acoustic) (46.26)
09. Sparrow & the Workshop – Faded Glory (50.17)
10. Luna – Malibu Love Nest (55.49)
11. eagleowl – No Conjunction (1.04.52)

The Procast is so called because this week has been an awfy professional one.  The third Meursault album is approaching, and because there are publishers, managers, bookers and all sorts involved in this one we had to have a Serious Meeting about it and make sure the planning was all being done properly.

We did all the grown-up stuff like minute the meeting, assign people deliverables and all sorts of stuff.  It was the closest to being back at my old job that I have experienced since I left, in all honesty – lists, management, timescales, budget discussions and all sorts.

That sounds dismal, I know, but it was quite fun actually.  I know I like releasing under the radar, awkward releases, but at the same time, if a band starts doing well and achieving things I don’t want them to have to necessarily leave our label in order to do so, and it’s quite satisfying (and actually quite interesting too) to be involved in a project on a slightly larger scale to usual.

Direct download: Toadcast #219 – The Procast
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01. John Knox Sex Club – Above Us the Waves (00.17)
02. Interpol – Obstacle #1 (10.44)
03. Elbow – Any Day Now (15.07)
04. Hiva Oa – Badger (26.47)
05. The Soft Walls – Black Cat (34.00)
06. King of Prussia – Your Graduating Hours (38.11)
07. British Sea Power – Oh Larsen B (45.07)
08. iLiKETRAiNS – The Beeching Report (50.40)
09. Unknown Artist – Bird Cage (56.09)
10. eagleowl – Into the Fold (62.11)

Well if there’s any shit going down in Edinburgh this week I am not going to be there to enjoy it.  Not out of shame at having just used the term ‘shit going down’ as if I was a teenager in the nineties, but because my gigfuns will be happening in London and Glasgow this week.

Tomorrow I am in London to see Rob St. John and Neil from Meursault play at the Vortex, and then on Thursday I’ll be in Glasgow for the Fence Records Christmas party.  And funnily enough, with Detour, Frightened Rabbit and Jill O’Sullivan coming through to Edinburgh on the same night as the latter, it seems the two cities will be swapping musical populations for a week.

Then on Sunday we have a gig by three of the most promising lo-fi garage rock bands I’ve come across this year – Dolfinz, Joanna Gruesome and The Black Tambourines.  This will be a bit messy, but also really fucking loud and (mostly) tuneful!

Anyhow, I have a pile of things to tell you about this week, including something rather good on tonight, assuming you can get down to Leith in time…

[Edit:  balls, just going through my emails and realised I missed this: Plastic Animals, Trapped Mice and Supermarionation at the Wee Red Bar on Thursday 15th Dec. - sorry!]

Monday 12th Dec: Taperecorder, Hailey Beavis & Dusty Cut at the Shebeen Bar.

The Shebeen is in what used to be the Old Dock bar down near Commercial Quay in Leith, and this is the first of a series of nights of free music, which promises good things.  Leith has needed something like this since the Leith Tape Club went quiet at the start of the year.  Taperecorder also sound really interesting too, like either an indie, an experimental or a techno band, depending on what moment of what song you happen to catch.

Taperecorder – Gravel Mountain

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Friday 16th Dec: Papi Falso at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

Papi Falso is the perfect club for people who aren’t that into clubs.  The music is fucking awesome, and you can either go nuts on the dancefloor or lean at the bar and have a pint.  Guess which one I tend to favour?

Saturday 17th Dec: Kid Canaveral‘s Christmas Baubles at Summerhall.

This is another all-day Christmas shindig, with performances from the Canaverals themselves, eagleowl, Slow Club, Josie Long, Sweet Baboo and a pile of others, and is being held in pretty much Edinburgh’s most charismatic new venue: Summerhall. I’ll be there. You’ll spot me easily because I’ll be the really drunk one.

Kid Canaveral – And Another Thing!!

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Saturday 17th Dec: Fuzzy Star, The Oates Field & The Occasional Flickers at Sneaky Pete’s.

With Kid Canaveral already sold out, this is a fine alternative for those too slow to get tickets.  Fuzzy Star were excellent at the Ides of Toad earlier in the year, although I suspect this is likely to be a full band set, fleshing out the awkward acoustic introspection with a somewhat fuller sound.  The Oates Field make a cracking racket, and the Occasional Flickers do swoonsome indie-pop as well as anyone in Edinburgh.

The Oates Field – Nae Luck

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Sunday 18th Dec: Doflinz, Joanna Gruesome & The Black Tambourines play The Ides of Toad at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

I am really looking forward to this one.  All three bands play rough and ready, lo-fi garage stuff, but still keep enough tunes in there that you aren’t just battered with a racket.  This should be messy and loud though, and might well be my final gig of the year.

Dolfinz – Coral Reefer

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Joanna Gruesome – Madison

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The Black Tambourines – Bad Days

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 Okay, angry mob of the Toad readership, do your very worst.  Today, as promised, is the day we vote on our five favourite songs of the year so there will be no foolish questions as per usual, but what there will be is the chance for you to write down your favourite songs, in no particular order, and I will count them up and find out which songs the readers of Toad have enjoyed the most this year.

There aren’t any real rules, although the song should have been released in 2011.  And also, just to help me count, I’d appreciate it if you could write in in the form Artist – Song Title please.  Other than that, umm… well, do your worst, I suppose.

And, as per usual, El, Brian and myself will be live on Fresh Air Radio from about half three in the afternoon.  We have special guests this week, but they were invited by El and I have no idea who they are, what they do or why they are there.  I guess I will find out when I get there.

Live on Fresh Air Radio from 3:30pm UK time – listen here.

Now, to get you in the mood for voting for your top five songs, here’s a quick recap of last year’s winners, as well as a link to the thread itself where the voting took place.

1. The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio

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2. eagleowl – No Conjunction

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=3. Meursault – What You Don’t Have

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=3. Broken Records – You Know You’re Not Dead

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=3. Foals – Spanish Sahara

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And the playlist for this week’s show shall appear live below, as we play the songs:

1. Whirling Pig Dervish – Bawjaws
2. The Cure – The Love Cats
3. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – John Taylor’s Month Away
4. Ringo Deathstarr – Do It Every Time
5. Twin Shadow – Slow
6. Hooray for Earth – True Loves
7. DZ Deathrays – Teeth
8. Joanna Gruesome – Lemonade Grrl
9. Class Actress – Weekend
10. Shirley Ellis – The Clapping Song
11. Blondie – Hanging on the Telephone
12. Rob St. John – Sargasso Sea
13. Foals – Spanish Sahara
14. The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio
15. Diana Ross – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough