Sorry, this is the best I can do.

Tuesday 14th September - Skullflower, Fordell Research Unit, Noma and Scrim at Banshee Labyrinth

Wednesday 15th September - The Vaselines at The Bongo Club

Thursday 16th September - Naval Cassidy and Usurper at The Roxy

Saturday 18th September - The Last Battle album launch with Matt Norris and Burnt Island at The Roxy

Saturday 18th September - Kid Canaveral and Night Noise Team at Sneaky Pete’s

So more sold-outy stuff this week, with Johnny Flynn already inaccessible at Cabaret Voltaire on Friday.  I am actually going to interview him for the site, but I think I might have forgotten to include a guestie on my request, so I may have to hide in the toilets after the interview to avoid being thrown out for lack of a ticket.

This is the last week for the Communion Compilation Competition as well.  By the end of the week I will pick the best pictures of hipsters being extremely hip and we shall have a public vote on the Friday Fives, with the winners getting their hand on a splendid twin vinyl 12″ compilation of performances from the Communion night, run by Ben from Mumford and Sons and Kevin from Cherbourg.  Just email me your extremely hip persons to songbytoad at hotmail.co.uk

Monday 22nd February 2010: Xiu Xiu, Meursault & the Foundling Wheel at Electric Circus.

I know more about this gig from the general excitement of the Meursault lads than any real knowledge I myself have of Xiu Xiu, which is minimal.  Still, they may well be playing a lot of new songs, so those of you wanting a taste of what’s to come on the new album could do a lot worse than pop along to the Electric Circus tonight.

Wednesday 24th February 2010: The Soft Pack, Banjo or Freakout & William Douglas at Cabaret Voltaire.

The Soft Pack first came to my attention as The Muslims a year or two ago, and I’ve been sort of lazily following them ever since.  This is basically old school, garagey indie-rock, but when they nail it with a killer melody, which they are capable of doing then it’s very good indeed.  They can be inconsistent, I have to confess, but I’m really looking forward to seeing them live.

The Soft Pack – Extinction

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Thursday 25th February 2010: Golden Ghost, Thomas Truax & George Thomas at the Wee Red Bar.

This is a really varied lineup, and well worth coming along to.  Golden Ghost is just plain lovely, and whilst I’ve never seen George Thomas with the Owls, I have seen him solo and he was one of these guys who seemed to make a virtue out of being quite shy, with self deprecating wit helping to put across the warm personality of his music.  Thomas Truax is an SL Records staple, and his self-made musical machines have to be seen to be believed – they’re pretty much worth the price of admission on their own.

Golden Ghost – Small Metal Objects

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Friday 26th February 2010: Forest Creatures, Cheer, Fordell Research Unit and King Rib at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

I know pretty much nothing about this lineup, apart from what you can tell from a very quick skim of the respective MySpace pages.  Because a lot of this is quite slow-build stuff I can’t tell you much beyond the fact that Fordell Research Unit in particular sounded rather interesting, so if you’re looking for something slightly off the beaten track this week, this might be a good bet.