I never really know how much impact putting songs in a podcast really makes, in terms of introducing them to the actual audience of the blog.  I assume there are loads of regular blog readers who never go near the podcasts for a variety of reasons (no, not the swearing), but they still seem relatively popular in their own right.

Having said that, people have told me excitedly that they have really got into bands from reading about them on the site, but I’ve never really heard the same said about the podcasts.  So, here are three bands whose music I have been enjoying a lot recently, but who I’ve only forced upon you in podcast form so far.  I am not not convinced you were paying attention like you should, so now I am insisting.  So there.

Weird Era (Bandcamp)

This is grungey, shoegazey indie rock, so yes, of course I like it!  I was actually introduced to this band by virtue of their cassette release of Go To Hell on Duck Tapes, but they have what looks a little like a double album available to download from their Bandcamp link above.

Garage Honeymoon, below, is a big awesome pop song, but generally Weird Era’s stuff is a bit more slow burn and textural than that – well worth exploring though.

Weird Era – Garage Honeymoon

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We Are Losers (Bandcamp – blog)

The first time I heard this I thought ‘ah yes, more ultra-lo-fi indie rock’.  By the end of the first song I thought ‘ah yes, some rather excellent ultra-lo-fi indie rock’.

It’s not quite that simple though, because this is actually are rather varied little EP.  The Narcissist may be rough, growling, catchy indie rock, but Empty Head is more of a pop song, and the final track, Windbreaker, much more hazy and dreamy, making this a really nicely varied release with plenty of potential directions which look promising for the future.

We Are Losers – The Narcissist

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Honeydrum (Bandcamp – blog)

There is a lot of The Magnetic Fields in this stuff.  I’d say it was sort of a lo-fi, pop version of The Magnetic Fields, but that’s kinda what The Magnetic Fields themselves already are.  I suppose it’s arguable that there are touches of Casiontone for the Painfully Alone in here as well, but that’s a little more tenuous, as comparisons go.

So, to be more straightforward, this is quirky pop music, with a laid back air and a dreamy feel to it.  The band have all sorts of cassette releases available from the links above, and I recommend you go and have a poke around.

Honeydrum – Dream Eyes

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It is a very, very fine Spring day indeed, this morning in Edinburgh, and so needless to say I am going to spend it in my office talking to imaginary people on the internet.

This week we are simply going to have a bit of a trawl through my inbox.  As I mention halfway through the podcast, I now have unlistened albums totalling a mighty one day, eighteen hours and thirty-four minutes worth of music.  So if you are wondering why I haven’t reviewed this that or the other, then that probably has something to do with it.

The trickiest part, of course, is that it’s not enough to simply have listened to something. To actually have anything resembling an intelligent comment to make you need to listen to something really quite often, and know the ins and outs of an album pretty well.  This takes a lot more than just a once-over lasting for one day, eighteen hours and thirty-four minutes.

Direct download: Toadcast #168 – The Springcast

01. The Lovely Eggs – Don’t Look at Me (I Don’t Like It) (00.40)
02. Lady Lazarus – Fighting Words & Fists (06.46)
03. Bill Callahan – Drover (12.09)
04. Evil Hand – Returned in Time (20.32)
05. Weird Era – Garage Honeymoon (24.41)
06. Teens – Golden Years (28.36)
07. The Spook School – Hallam (32.57)
08. The Sandwitches – Lightfoot (38.37)
09. Honeydrum – Human Stuff (45.09)
10. Timber Timbre – Woman (46.42)
11. Clem Snide – Pale Blue Eyes (54.29)

Fucking hell, it’s been battering it down for the last few days – ‘torrent’ial, see, nothing to do with the naughty internets!  We’ve had snow in the morning and pishing rain for the rest of the day – fucking rotten.  Combine this with our worryingly leaky roof and honestly, it’s a bit of a surprise I am not in a worse mood.

As it is, however, I feel relatively chirpy.  There is footie tonight, and I will sit up late with some wine and make mixtapes for… well, for no obvious reason whatsoever I have to confess, apart from the fact that I am getting fed up of being embarrassed by the music taste of my nineteen-year-old self whenever I randomly select a tape to play in the van.  Also, making tapes is a nice way to listen to vinyl singles which might otherwise be neglected.

Direct download: Toadcast #165 – The Torrentcast

01. David Thomas Broughton – Ain’t Got No Sole (00.29)
02. Lab Coast – Really Realise (06.54)
03. M.J. Hibbett & the Validators – The Gay Train (17.49)
04. Bonnie Prince Billy & the Cairo Gang – Island Brothers (24.19)
05. Bob Dylan & the Rolling Thunder Revue – Romance in Durango (29.12)
06. Dolfish – Your Love is Bummin’ Me Out (35.56)
07. Daniel Knox – Ghost Song (39.59)
08. The Honorable Worm – Behind the invisible hedges, into the unimaginable fields… (43.29)
09. Elbow – Lippy Kids (52.37)
10. Honeydrum – Those Babes (63.17)