Sorry, I know this is going up late, but I have been working on the promotional material for the Jesus H. Foxx EP release.  There’s a fair bit still to be done, but for the time being I am cautiously optimistic that it is going to look fucking brilliant.  There will be a lot of painting to be done though, so putting the final touches on the thing is going to take bloody ages, but I think it is going to be easily worth it.

In other news, this week’s podcast is a prolonged chat with Euan (of Kays Lavelle, Trampoline, Steinberg Principle and Woodenbox fame) as a way of rounding up the excellent fortnight he spent feeding and changing Song, by Toad whilst Mrs. Toad and I were off gallivanting.  So, rather than make his usual grouchy, joyless comments on posts I thought I might invite him to make his grouchy joyless comments on a podcast.  So he came round and complained and complained and generally sulked his way through the whole thing, which was nice.

Oh alright, of course he didn’t. But it just wouldn’t be fun for me if I didn’t make fun of Euan for being grouchy long past the time anyone else has ceased to find it funny.

Oh stop sulking.  You’re turning into him.  All of you.  Shame on you, people, shame on you.  Cheer the fuck up for God’s sake.

Toadcast #77 – The Grouchcast

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01. Wilco – Bull Black Nova (06.39)
02. The Kays Lavelle – Scars From the City (15.14)
03. There Will Be Fireworks – We Sleep Through the Bombs (27.37)
04. Beerjacket – Father (31.46)
05. iLiKETRAiNS – Terra Nova (39.36)
06. Andrew Bird – The Giant of Illinois (50.10)
07. Finn – The Fourth the Fifth (61.47)
08. Fleet Foxes – Oliver James (65.29)
09. Tom Waits – Temptation (74.12)

Well now, I’ve already written about this album over at The Steinberg Principle but my readership is not anywhere near that of Mr Toad and I love this record, so I want to share it with you all.  This has been an interesting 2 weeks for me because I don’t really feel that the music I am writing about will necessarily appeal to the wider readership of songbytoad.  When Matthew first asked me to do this, I must admit that I was a little apprehensive.  This site doesn’t really cater for the majority of music that I love.  Nothing highlights this more than Matthew’s lack of knowledge of Elliott Smith.  So yes, I was apprehensive but I decided that perhaps I was being silly.  I love all sorts of music, so why wouldn’t the wider readership of songbytoad?  So it was with this mindset that I decided to proceed and hopefully the music I’ve been posting isn’t all miserable crap that nobody likes!

Anyways,  Finn is a German singer songwriter, please stay with me despite this, called Patrick Zimmer and is signed to Erased Tapes – home of the sublime Olafur Arnalds.   ‘The Best Low-Priced Heartbreakers You Can Own’ is his third album but is the first thing by him that I came across, mostly thanks to him being support to Olafur Arnalds on his last tour of the UK, and it’s a gem of an album.  There are 16 tracks on this album, which is a lot.  Or it seems a lot, but many of the tracks are short interludes and many of the songs themselves register under 3 and a half minutes in length.  The delicate beauty of this record is hard to describe.   But what really makes the record come to life are the lovely arrangements and intelligent intrumentation.  The handclaps at the end of ‘Julius Caesar’ are just the perfect end to a wonderful song though completely unexpected – perhaps why they make such an impact.  Finn’s voice is also something special and his use of 2 vocals on many songs, one an octave higher than the other, is a lovely touch which adds beautifully to the dynamics.  The name of this record could not be more prefect.  Go out and buy it and let Finn touch your heart.

Dew – Finn

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Julius Caesar – Finn

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