Of all the tired puns in the world of music I have no idea why I still find that one vaguely snigger-worthy. It’s a bit like sitting at the front of the top deck of double decker bus; no matter how old you get it’s still just a little bit exciting.

I’ve got a couple of singles to punt today, one by local band Broken Records and one by Hereford superstars (erm, what?) Gossamer Albatross.

Most of my local readers know all about the release of Broken Records‘ new single Lies, and in fact I’d imagine a good many were at the launch party a couple of weeks ago. But I thought it worth mentioning for the benefit of those of us in foreign parts or, indeed, anywhere Not Edinburgh because it’s a bloody brilliant song, and one which they gave up playing for a while, until they’d tweaked the signature mandolin riff just a little.

It’s one of the songs they played that very first time I heard them and I have always loved it. I miss the mandolin a little, but Davie’s piano seems more prominent these days, which is a very good thing. In general this is just why people like Broken Records such a lot: musically it’s interesting, which, it’s Big, and Either way, it’s a fucking great song and Broken Records absolutely never stiff you on the b-side either, so to buy it from recordstore.co.uk, click here.

Broken Records – Lies (Demo Version)

And the video is here:

Secondly, we have Gossamer Albatross and their recent release The Ground Will Take Us Down, available from Bailiwick Recordings, here. They have kindly given permission for me to make the song available as an mp3, so I urge you to reward their generosity by puchasing the vinyl. This also rather spares me the difficulty of describing the music, but you know me, I’m bound to try anyway.

Their early stuff was a little twee for some of the readers of this site, although personally I loved it. This time around the sound is a little more muscular and confident, although still squarely inhabiting that sort of Beirut or Neutraul Milk Hotel territory, with plenty of classical flourishes thrown in for character. The heavily classical influence is a real pleasure, actually, perfectly complementing the distinctive, yet difficult to pin down vocal, and the slightly self-conscious folk pop structure of the songs.

Two gorgeous songs, then, and I’m not sure which one I prefer. Treat yourselves this weekend and buy both, then pour a paint-strippingly strong gin and sit in the house as Autumn advances and listen to both over and over again. That’s pure musical joy, that is.

Gossamer Albatross – The Ground Will Take Us Down

Bill Oddie, for those of you who don’t know, is a legendary British television birdwatcher – twitcher as they’re known.  He is also the subject of one of the most famous of all mondegreens: Madonna’s “Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie, put your hands all over my body”.

Anyhow, as a legendary feather flutterer it seemed only appropriate that his name should adorn a podcast entirely made up of bands with ornithological names.  We have everything here, from the albatross to the gull to the guillemot to the owl to the sparrow to the pigeon.  Honestly, this podcast could have been twice the length that it is, there were just so many appropriate bands – no Flock of Seagulls, for example, no Sparrow & the Workshop, no Sheryl Crow.

So I hope you enjoy it.  While you’re listening to this, Mrs. Toad and I will be enjoying the End of the Road Festival, and hopefully getting a few interesting interviews in for you all.  It’ll be my first ever attendance as a legitimate press person, so I am feeling very full of myself at the moment, but with a bit of luck I’ll justify the inflated sense of self-importance and bring back some fine bits and pieces for you to enjoy in the next week or two.

Toadcast #37 – The Oddcast

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01. Hate Beak – Feral Parrot (02.27)
02. The Eagles – Outlaw Man (04.52)
03. Eagleowl – Motherfucker (10.55)
04. Woodpigeon – Knock Knock (15.22)
05. The Lovely Sparrows – Department of Foreseeable Outcomes (19.45)
06. The Bowerbirds – In Our Talons (23.47)
07. Doves – A House (35.30)
08. Counting Crows – Start Again (38.12)
09. Andrew Bird – Why (Live) (46.32)
10. Guillemots – Take Me Out (Live Lounge) (50.43)
11. A Hawk & a Hacksaw – Portlandtown (56.07)
12. Gossamer Albatross – Held Hands (59.57)
13. The Housemartins – Me & the Farmer (63.26)

Yes, they are indeed called Gossamer Albatross. It’s a bloody silly name, but for some reason I rather like it. For an obscure bunch from Hereford, where not much has happened since they dumped Newcastle out of the FA Cup with that goal all those years ago as far as I can tell, they really are surprisingly good. There’s a touch of baroque folk pop about them, but the necessary limit on the number of musicians for a group at this sort of embryonic stage of their career keeps the sound nice and spare.

Lewis Gordon is only 18, and according to the press snippets on their MySpace page is ‘a self-proclaimed musical genius and snob’ prone to ‘giving damning criticisms of other local bands on the Hereford Music forum’. I have no idea if this is true, and although it does make the fellow seem a bit of a prat, I can’t imagine there being much to prove him wrong on the Hereford indie circuit, although I really would have no idea.

His email to me was pleasant and to the point, describing the music thus: “Our influences include Final Fantasy, Neutral Milk Hotel, Islands and lots of other ace american indie stuff.” I don’t know any of these groups particularly well, so I thought it best to just throw the names up and let you draw your own conclusions.  Myself, I am reminded of the Ralfe Band, who released a similar album of floating folk pop a couple of years ago.

Gordon’s voice flirts with melodrama, lending a faintly preposterous air to the music when I first heard it.  I was grabbed though, and the more I hear it the more I am enjoying it.  Plucked guitar and airy strings give a similarly unreal accompaniment, which means this has quite a dreamy air about it half the time.  On Held Hands the piano provides a welcome grounding, keeping the rise and fall of the rest of the music from floating off into the air.  It also adds some deeper notes, which make it somehow more mysterious and gripping than some of its lighter brethren.

All in all, this would be five pounds very well spent indeed.

Gossamer Albatross – Held Hands

myspace | buy the ep

As I’m only posting one track by Gossamer Albatross (it’s only a four song EP) I thought I might as well pop one in from the Ralfe Band, seeing as most of you have probably never heard of them either.

The Ralfe Band – Albatross Waltz