If anyone in Edinburgh is at a loose end tonight, this is where you should be.  At half eight in the Voodoo Rooms Limbo will be launching the first volume of a series of Limbo Live albums.  Basically, they’ve taken the recordings from their weekly live shows and compiled a Best Of as something of a showcase, both of their work, and of all the new Scottish bands they’ve given a chance to over the course of the last year or so.

Honestly, I have no idea how they do it.  Three bands a week, every week, for over a year: that should be impossible.  The work they put in is impressive, and the encouragement that gives the local scene can’t be underestimated.  I’ve seen a number of superb bands for the first time by going along to Limbo.  The beer is cheap, the lineups are varied, the sound is phenomenal and all in all it’s invariably a good night out.

Things like this really are the engine room of a music scene.  They sit there and chug over reliably week after week, providing a platform not only for bands themselves, but also for other venues.  The Bowery, Cabaret Voltaire and Sneaky Pete’s are doing amazing work in improving the live scene in this town, but something like Limbo, which means that even during lean spells there is something good on, makes sure that everything keeps moving, that the audiences remain engaged and excited, until bands get back on the road again and the scene around the city picks up once more.

Tonight’s gig is going to be a massive great mish mash of as many groups represented on Limbo Live Vol. 1 as they can manage to pull together.  Everyone sets up at once and there’ll be a short, sharp collection of performances, rather than the standard, support-support-headline setup.  This is another thing I like about Limbo, actually.  Was anyone at their collaborative night with Canongait Books?  It was superb.  Poetry, readings and music all together in one night, and not really like much I’ve been to before – they really do try and innovate with their nights.

So please pop along and support them tonight, or go and buy the CD.  Dave and Andy are a pair of total fuckwits, but they are lovely blokes, and really important to the music scene in Edinburgh, so it would be good for them to get some love in return.

Zoey Van Goey – City is Exploding

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Isosceles – Get Your Hands Off

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Limbo on MySpace | Buy the CD from limbolive.co.uk

Christ almighty, it’s fucking busy this week. So I guess I’ll start by listing the three famousy gigs which I will not be attending, just to get them out of the way nice and early. Firstly, I will not be going to see Martha Wainright at the Picturehouse on Wednesday because, frankly, I find her rather annoying, despite expecting to like her music. I expected to like it, I just didn’t. I also won’t be going to see Mogwai at the Corn Exchange on Tuesday because despite their legendary status, I think they’re shit. Thirdly, I won’t be going to see Noah & the Whale play The Liquid Rooms on Sunday either, because I can’t be arsed. That’s three hours of my life I’d never be able to get back.

Interestingly, Razorlight have just announced a brand new ‘intimate’ tour of the UK. Quite in whose deranged fantasy places like the Edinburgh Corn Exchange qualify as being intimate is beyond me – the place is like a run-down fucking aircraft hanger. Idiots.

So, yes, the gigs I will be attending this week. Well, not all of them, but the ones I would actually recommend, and might attend if I had infinite amounts of time and money.

Tuesday 21st October 2008: Action Group, Come On Gang & HOMEwork at the Ark.
A good value lineup at the shittest venue in the city. I haven’t seen Come On Gang for a while actually, and it’s about time I went along again, assuming my recently returned lady friend will permit it of course.
Action Group – Crime & Punishment

Thursday 23rd October 2008: Popup & Isosceles play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.
Pure indiepop this week at Limbo. I don’t need to tell you much more about Isosceles’ spiky, enjoyable, synthy indie, and Popup are currently promoting their debut album, so this should be a most entertaining evening.
Isosceles – This Is Where It Ends

Friday 24th October 2008: Los Campesinos & Copy Haho play a Tennent’s Mutual gig at Cabaret Voltaire.
Los Campesinos are my friend Matt’s favourite band. Personally I quite like what I hear, but I know little enough about them to still be in the curiosity stage. What I have heard of them I’ve rather enjoyed though, so this would appear to be a good chance to find out a bit more.
Los Campesinos! – Death to Los Campesinos!

Saturday 25th October 2008: The Week That Was & Eagleowl at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
Field Music’s Pete Brewis has another project, and it is The Week That Was. That’s pretty interesting to begin with, but supporting them will be local favourites Eagleowl, despite Findo Gask being on the listing. So this could be rather good value for your six quid.
The Week That Was – Scratch the Surface

Saturday 25th October 2008: Seasick Steve at the Queen’s Hall.
Quite why everyone has suddenly decided that some old blues musician is the trendiest thing since sliced bread is sort of beyond me, I have to confess. I like his brand of blues, don’t get me wrong, but quite why him rather than anyone else seems baffling. Mind you, he does look like the reason the word ‘grizzled’ was invented, so maybe that has something to do with it.
Seasick Steve – St. Louis Slim

Saturday 25th October: The Hurricanes at Cabaret Voltaire.
I don’t know much about the Hurricanes at all, because they only have one song on their MySpace player, along with a remix of said song. It’s a good song though, so I am curious to find out more.
The Hurricanes – Down Below

Well, we’ll be back by the end of this week, back into a maelstrom of gigs.  What the fuck am I going to do on Saturday?  Go to see Johnny Flynn at Cabaret Voltaire?  Sparrow & the Workshop at the Liquid Room?  Or Eagleowl at the Scottish Scullery.  I am going to be spread thinner than the veneer of desperately forced joy on a vegetarian’s malnourished visage.  I think I may even be doing a show for Fresh Air Radio that day, but I have no idea what about, as yet.

So, what’s happening on the busiest week of my annual gig calendar?  Take a deep breath and… here we go:

Friday 15th August 2008: Noah & the Whale at Cabaret Voltaire.
Pretty much the pinnacle of the dismal Edge Festival’s woeful efforts this month sees them bringing folk popsters (more pop than folk these days, but not to their detriment) Noah & the Whale to Edinburgh.  I really like the band, and I am going to go.  Splendid.
Noah & the Whale – Beating

Friday 15th August 2008: Withered Hand plays the Retreat Festival at the Scottish Scullery.
Withered Hand are one of the best bands in the city at the moment, mixing acerbic wit with caustic self-loathing and futile optimism.  If anyone embodies Scottish songwriting as I see it then it is Dan, and his band is worth making a considerable trip to see.  Brilliant.
Withered Hand – Religious Songs

Saturday 16th August 2008: Johnny Flynn & the Sussex Wit at Cabaret Voltaire.
This lad is pure gold.  Never mind the public school education, the excessively literate bent and the thespian background, there is a wonderful charisma to their live performance and the charm exuded by both the band and the music is wonderful.  I may well not make it, but I wish I could.
Johnny Flynn & the Sussex Wit – Tickle Me Pink

Saturday 16th August 2008: Sparrow & the Workshop at the Liquid Room.
They may be supporting Y’All is Fantasy Island, but the reason I will be at this gig will be to get my first sight of one of the most exciting recent arrivals on the Scottish music scene of late, who are due to record a Toad Session the following day.
Sparrow & the Workshop – Devil Song

Saturday 16th August 2008: Eagleowl play their single launch at the Scottish Scullery.
Eagleowl wish, at least a little, that they were Low.  Or so they have said, apparently.  Between Clarissa’s wonderful arse* doleful double bass, Malcolm’s funereal violin and Bart’s grumbling guitar they aren’t far off, but there is a knack for melody there that picks each song a special place of its own and steers well clear of that sulky indie-folk cliche to which they would otherwise be prone.  It will be a small release, but one of the best of the year, I guarantee it.
Eagleowl – Blanket

Sunday 17th August 2008: Isosceles at Cabaret Voltaire.
Isosceles are very good.  They are pop, their lyrics are shallow at best, but their tunes are superb and the music they make is sheer good-time, hugely danceable indie-pop.
Isosceles – Kitch Bitch

Sunday 17th August 2008: Broken Records at the Liquid Room.
Edinburgh’s most successful recent export come home for a bit to pack out the Liqud Room (again) and presumably publicise their new single, Slow Parade, out on the 11th August on Fandango.  This will be an absolute fucking corker.
Broken Records – If the News Makes You Sad, Don’t Watch It (Toad Session)

*Sorry Jake.  And Mrs. Toad.  S’true though.

It’s a bit late to be pointing out great gigs taking place tonight, so I hope you’ll excuse my tardiness today. Such tedious annoyances as real life and having a proper job have rather irritatingly inserted themselves squarely in the path of the blogging juggernaut that is Song, by Toad and brought production to a grinding halt for the last couple of days.

So, erm, this week then. Well I am on gig-verbot for the next little while because I have been paying scandalously inadequate amounts of attention to my midget companion, and that won’t do at all. For either of us. So once this week is over there will be lots of nice things done with Mrs. Toad to try and make up for my negligence. No-one wants to be the sort of husband who fails to pay attention to that which is most important to him, no matter how much one might get caught up in exciting projects. In other words, no-one wants to turn into a prick, now do they. Although I my case the ‘turning into’ part might be questionable.

Tuesday 13th May: Isosceles, Sportsday Megaphone & Envelope at the Ark.
The Ark might be the worst venue in Edinburgh, but Isosceles are clearly worth seeing. Jumpy synth-pop with plenty of tunes and a really good spread between vocals, synth, and bass as to which provides the best bits. A actual group in every sense of the word. I don’t know anything at all about the other two, although Sportsday Megaphone sound quite promising from their MySpace page.
Isosceles – Watertight
Sportsday Megaphone – Bikini Atoll

Wednesday 14th May: Inspector Tapehead, Molly Wagger & Flying With Penguins at the Wee Red Bar.
I know little enough about all of these bands, but Inspector Tapehead include Jonnie Common from the superb Down the Tiny Steps in their number, so that is pretty much all the information I need to go along. That and the fact that this is a Trampoline gig of course, and I have yet to see a Trampoline lineup that was any less than fucking superb.
Inspector Tapehead – A Fillet of Bozo

Thursday 15th May – Willard Grant Conspiracy & the Pilgrim Orchestra (incl. Howe Gelb) at the Queens Hall.
This gig gets me all shaky with excitement. The Willards have produced three or four of my favourite albums of all time, and Howe Gelb is hardly a slouch either. Two of Americana’s most prolific collaborators coming to town, and I’d steal a ticket off a defenceless old granny if I had to. WGC’s new album The Pilgrim Road is out now too, even more reason for giddy excitement.
Willard Grant Conspiracy – Evening Mass (Live)

Thursday 15th May: Eagleowl & Emily Scott at the Collective Gallery.
You know how highly I think of Eagleowl, and Emily Scott is someone who I have mentioned scandalously little on these pages of late. She recently finished runner-up in King Tut’s monthly Your Sound Artist of the Month, and has a lovely, delicate folk album to her name, to be bought from her MySpace page. Definitely one to check out.
Emily Scott – Humming Song

Sunday 18th May: The Mae Shi at Cabaret Voltaire.
I learnt about the latest signings to Moshi Moshi, the label which can do no wrong at the moment, from Tim at the excellent Daily Growl. They are meteroically up and coming indie synth-popsters with bags of energy and exuberance. I am really looking forward to seeing them in the flesh and finding out if the hype matches the goods.
The Mae Shi – Lamb & Lion

No, I’m not dead, just insanely busy. We recorded the Alela Diane & Mariee Sioux Toad Session today, and it’s been a pretty bloody hectic weekend, so I am bloody exhausted.

Also, when I requested my slot on Fresh Air, Edinburgh’s student radio station, I looked at a couple of months of my diary and what do you know, hectic as hell but for some reason Tuesday was empty absolutely every week for about two months. Perfect, I thought, I shall request Tuesdays as it will never clash with anything and life will be beer and skittles.

Since they were nice enough to give me a slot on Tuesdays what has happened? Well this week I was offered a ticket for Manchester United’s home tie with Barcelona in the European Cup and there are two bloody gigs I want to go to in Edinburgh that night as well. Fucking typical.

Tuesday 29th April: The Low Lows & Eagleowl at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
I am so pissed off about missing this gig I could cure cancer on Tuesday afternoon and just not fucking tell anyone out of spite. Eagleowl’s morose folk and The Low Lows building, feedbacky Americana would have been the best lineup for bloody ages. Arse arse fucking arse.
The Low Lows – Raining in Eva

Tuesday 29th April: Isosceles & Eastern Conference Champions at Cabaret Voltaire.
I have no idea quite what the word angular means when applied to music, but perhaps abrupt, spasmodic indie pop with plenty of synth and style might cover it. That’s Isosceles anyway, and they’re excellent. Eastern Conference Champions are another very, erm, yoof-friendly sounding beat combo and despite this I really like them.
Isosceles – Isosceles

Thursday 1st May: Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms with Come On Gang & The Chap.
I’m not sure if there’s been a Limbo night yet that hasn’t been worth going to, but you know what, I’ve never once made it. This is unlikely to change this week unfortunately, but Come On Gang are supposed to be brilliant and The Chap sound decent as well.

There’s a couple of others, like Colin McIntyre (of Mull Historical Society) at Cabaret Voltaire and Zoey Van Goey and Crash My Model Car at Henry’s, but my interest in both of those gigs is kind of slim, so I go if you want but I won’t be making it. Maybe if they’d put them on a Tuesday instead…

I’m not listing any gigs as part of the 32 Music Live festival at the Three Sisters in Edinburgh because, for some incredible reason which I really hope goes deeper than my own simple stupidity, I can’t seem to find the fucking listings anywhere on the internet. The closest I could find was this on Bebo, with the only interesting bits of information being that it starts this weekend and is free. Go information superhighway!

Oh and Vampire Weekend are at the Liquid Room, but don’t bother – they’ve sold out.

I am now going to sleep the sleep of the recently deceased.

On a very thin week of gigs indeed, I was pointed in the direction of this one by Billy from Spins ‘n’ Needles, in his capacity as roving Drowned in Sound Anointed Bloodhound of Musical Excellence. Apart from a bit of cursory MySpacery beforehand I had precisely no knowledge of Isosceles before this gig, but I was certainly optimistic. Their MySpace songs are a sprightly bunch – heavily overlapping with that spasmodic, angular guitar indie-pop accompanied by plenty of low-fi synth that seems so popular at the moment. There’s a bit more to them though, because they seem to combine enough old school rock ‘n’ roll influences to make their sound distinctive enough to be interesting.

Before that, however, late withdrawals meant another chance to see local Toad favourites Meursault. No electronics this time, as in previous gigs, so they performed with just a banjo, uke and guitar to bring the rhythms over which Neil Pennycook’s yowl leaps like the curse of impending pestilence. I liked the acoustic setup actually (very Toad Session-friendly, hint hint!) and I reckon you can probably stick them right at the top of my list of Edinburgh bands you haven’t heard but should have. I’m guessing neither Broken Records nor Found count as secrets anymore. Get in touch via MySpace and demand that they get their shit in gear and send you a copy of their album. I’d be amazed if it doesn’t make the Toad Top 1o come the end of 2008.

Meursault – The Dirt & the Roots[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/Meursault-TheDirtandtheRoots.mp3]

On to Isosceles, and the joy simply continued. There is nothing that I would describe as particularly innovative about this group. Jerky, punchy guitars with synths and slightly shouty dual harmonies are as common at the moment as a disappointing blind date, but I think I would elevate these guys above the sizable herd with whom they run. Listening to their recorded tunes on MySpace, there’s something flatter about the music than there is live. On stage good indie-pop songs are turned into bloody excellent ones, largely due to be being played with the sort of genuine zest and life that few bands seem capable of.

Lead singer Jack Valentine is genuinely charismatic – so into it he looks a bit mental half the time – and manages to put in an a performance that is exciting and really engaging, without ever looking remotely like rock star posturing. William Aikman on keys puts in a valiant effort too, to the extent that I would perhaps suggest that his constant ability to surprise might be what picks this band out from their peers as special. But that would ignore the bass player, whose riffs are absolutely central to more than a few Isosceles songs. And as for the drummer, well I’m afraid I barely got past the other three to know, but given the extent to which this lot clearly are a band, in the most unified sense of the word, I assume he must have been excellent as well.

They have a single out in a little while on Art Goes Pop, a Leeds based indie label, I believe, who have released stuff by the Low Miffs and Popup in the past, so they definitely have a nose for quality Scottish indie-pop bands. I’d probably buy it just for the artwork (above) which is very nicely done indeed, but in any case, Watertight and Kitch Bitch (spelling notwithstanding) are two of their standout songs so there’s no excuse really. So for all I wouldn’t describe myself as giddy about this band, I reckon they have the capacity to be very good indeed.

Isosceles – Isosceles
Isosceles – Watertight

What’s happening in Edinburgh this week? Erm, well mostly bugger all actually. In fact, I can’t find anything that I’d really bother going to see this week, but not to fear for one of the first great live events of the year is upon us: The Fence Collective Homegame. But more about that later, because it isn’t in Edinburgh, whereas this is:

Thursday 27th March: Isosceles at The Voodoo Rooms.
Alright, I’m scraping the barrel a bit with this one, I admit, but I had to list something. The only reason I say scraping is because I know nothing at all about these fellows, and I am not entirely sure it’s my sort of thing, on first listen, but Billy from Spins ‘n’ Needles is going along and seeing as the missus is in God Bless America this week I thought I might pop along for sociable reasons. And what a fucking excellent song Kitch Bitch is.
Isosceles – This is Where it Ends
Isosceles – Kitch Bitch

Normally I find Bart’s weekly incursions into this thread to be something of a bane, because it invariably means I have missed something good, but this week I find myself pleading for his help. Is there anything good happening this week, Bart? Anything?

Well, now that’s over with, what’s all this Homegame business then? Well if you read this blog regularly you almost certainly know all about Fence Records. They are based in Anstruther on the Fife coast and every year they all return to the town, invite those of us lucky enough to snag tickets in the eight minutes it took them to sell out, and spend all weekend getting absolutely cabbaged and playing lots and lots of great tunes.

Bands you have read about these pages that will be playing include Down the Tiny Steps, Art Pedro, Rob St.John, Eagleowl, The Pictish Trail, Viva Stereo, Kid Canaveral and of course the two most famous ones: King Creosote and James Yorkston. So you see why I’m excited. A dozen great bands and a long weekend on the Fife coast with my charmingly indifferent flower of delicate beauty, Mrs. Toad. She just goes for the weekend at the seaside really, and doesn’t pay much, if any, attention to any of the bands. Which in a silly way I sort of like.