Well this week I shall mostly be entertaining my parents, who are taking the opportunity to inspect Toad Hall as a suitable place for the raising of yet-to-be-considered grandchildren.

There may yet be some opportunity for a spot of truancy however, as I am DJing at the Charity Baw on Saturday.  I wish I actually had the right accent to say that properly, but with my accent saying things like “baws”, or the far better “yer maw’s got baws and yer da’ likes it” just sounds stupid unfortunately.  It’s the biggest chore of living in a foreign country: you pick up the slang, but not the accent, and end up making a tit of yourself all the bloody time.

The only consolation is that it has happened to my brother as well, and he now uses American slang whilst sounding like he works for the BBC, which is hilarious!

Saturday 17th July 2010: Charity Baw at the Roxy, with King Creosote, Ballboy, FOUND, Three Blind Wolves and more…

The lineup’s great, but I know for a fact that at least one of the people DJing at this event is an idiot, but Kenny from King Creosote and Gav from OnTheFly will probably play some good tunes at least.  I haven’t actually seen King Creosote for ages now, and the upstairs room at the Roxy is about as atmospheric a place as I can imagine to break that duck.

King Creosote – Twin Tub Twin

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Sunday 18th July 2010: Endor, Gdansk & Lady North at Sneaky Pete’s.

Endor have a new album in the works, and Gdansk have always been good, so I recommend this.  This should be a night of good, old-fashioned guitary indie music

Gdansk – Kicking a Television

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Sorry for the silence over the last couple of days.  Yesterday we recorded the Samamidon Toad Session, which took a while and generally distracted me from the business of writing the blog, so I’m afraid this weekly update is a day late.  Which you are just going to have to fucking live with.

I’d almost say that there really wasn’t much on in Edinburgh this week, but what I would really mean is that there is not much high-profile stuff going on in Edinburgh this week.  There are, actually, some very good gigs to be found.

Saturday 17th January 2009: Endor, Cancel the Astronauts & Team Turnip play Trampoline at the the Wee Red Bar.

It’s a bloody good thing that the impending arrival of Baby Trampoline didn’t kill this night off altogether because I’ve always liked their lineups.  For the first show of the new year we have a couple of bands about whom I know far too little – Endor and Cancel the Astronauts – beyond being able to tell you that the latter are indie-popsters whose demo CD I rather enjoyed last year.  Team Turnip I know a little better, having heard Russell’s EP which will hopefully be self-released later this year.  He plays very friendly twee indie-pop and has some really good songs, so I am hoping the timing works out with the Rob St. John performance at Cabaret Voltaire such that I can catch both.
Team Turnip – Photos of the Staff

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Saturday 17th January 2009: Rob St. John, Tragic O’Hara & Carrie MacDonald at Cabaret Voltaire.

I’ve picked this particular show because I am a big Rob St. John fan, but Cabaret Voltaire are putting on a whole series of Duty Free gigs (ie free entry) gigs over the course of the next week or so, so if you fancy checking out some emerging bands for free, this is a bloody good chance to do it.  Rob is all excited about this gig, too, because he will be playing with the full band and really going for it so if there’s one don’t-miss gig in the city this week it is definitely this one.
Rob St. John – Paper Ships

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Sunday 18th January 2009: The Moth & the Mirror, Emily Scott & Enfant Bastard play Concrete Campfires, downstairs at the City Cafe.

This one’s a little new on me, but I rather fortuitously received an email this morning from Stace, who has just brought her Concrete Campfire night through from Glasgow, and set up shop downstairs in the City Cafe.  The bands will be performing stripped down sets, I believe, and entry is free with the first band on stage at nine.  It’s a nice idea, and I’ve always liked the City Cafe for some reason so I think I will go along to this and say hello.  I can’t quite imagine how the prettiness of Emily Scott will mesh with the off-kilter eccentricity of Enfant Bastard and the somewhat epic (judging by a quick MySpace listen) music  of The Moth & the Mirror, but then I’ve always preferred the slightly unusual bills to the predictable ‘one headline band and a couple of supports who sound sort of like them’ approach.
Enfant Bastard – How Much Do You Need?

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I’m trying to become just a little bit more relevant to the good people of Edinburgh this year, so I am going to have a go at making this a weekly feature where I pick up on the most appealing looking gigs looming in the capital for the forthcoming week. As it will invariably have mp3s of the bands it should hopefully be useful for the rest of you as well.

Monday 28th January: Operahouse & Endor at Cabaret Voltaire – Free Entry.
Operahouse have a new single, the hugely infectious Born a Boy, out this week so a free gig seems like an excellent chance to check out their excellent bouncy indie-pop.
Endor I don’t know all that well, but I have heard such a lot of good things about them that I am rather looking forward to this.

Operahouse – Machine Palace (Demo)
Endor – Lead Balloons

Wednesday 30th January: Laura Viers at Cabaret Voltaire
I am not a massive Laura Viers fan, but she has done some gorgeous things. I missed her last album but I’m open to persuasion if anyone reckons it’s really worth exploring. I’d be going to this if I had any money left this month. Check out the gorgeous duet on Shadow Blues though – truly exceptional.

Laura Viers – Shadow Blues

Wednesday 31st January: Broken Records & Boyfriend/Girlfriend at The Caves.
This gig is being hosted as part of a club night with DJ sets from Vic Galloway and I Fly Spitfires so it should be brilliant. Tickets aren’t available for sale, so I hope I can get in with my grey hair and qualifications, but I like the sound of Boyfriend/Girlfriend and you all already know how much I love Broken Records. Don’t you?

Broken Records – Lies
Boyfriend/Girlfriend – Fears Of

Saturday 2nd February: Morrissey at the Playhouse
Seriously, I am going to a Mozza gig. I’m not a devoted fan, but I reckon it would be daft to pass up the chance to see a legend live, so thanks to JC at The Vinyl Villain for coming up with a couple of tickets. No idea what I’m going to make of this!

Morrissey – You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side

Sunday 3rd February: Okkervil River at Cabaret Voltaire.
If I wasn’t busy I’d be going to this. I really liked The Stage Names, the album they released last year, although I somehow never quite got round to reviewing it. It’s lovely laid back indie Americana with a little more kick than most.

Okkervil River – Unless It’s Kicks