The FOUND Toad Session became a little overwhelming last week, especially when the upload gremlins struck some time around midnight on Friday and pig-fucking, baby-abducting bloody Vimeo simply refused to upload anything I sent.  I am not sure whether to blame them or Virgin fucking Media, who do our broadband, and whose connection simply ground to a fucking halt the second I tried to upload anything at all.  Useless fuckers.

Consequently, after six consecutive nights which lasted until around four or five in the morning, I am taking this week almost entirely off, not least to spend some time with Mrs. Toad.  She had been away for something like four weeks of the previous six, returned on Wednesday, and instead of wining and dining her to the best of my meagre ability, I ended up staring at the computer in ever-escalating states of fury for the next five days.  So erm, yes, I’m not married to you ungrateful bastards, I must remind myself, but to my Midget Companion of Infinite Joy.  And this week I better damn well remember it!

Monday 17th August 2009: My Latest Novel & Broken Records at the Queen’s Hall.

I can’t think of a better setting for a band like Broken Records.  The Queen’s Hall is old fashioned and atmospheric, as is their music, in a way I find a little tricky to define.  Support comes from My Latest Novel, who released their second album a couple of months ago.

Broken Records – A Promise (BBC Session)

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Tuesday 18th August 2009: Meursault & Frightened Rabbit at the Queen’s Hall.

From the perspective of Song, by Toad this is Meursault’s biggest gig yet – playing to a sold out Queen’s Hall – and as such is incredibly fucking exciting.  It’ll probably be the largest space I’ve seen them play and I’ll be really curious to see how their sound fills a room that large.  And there’s Frightened Rabbit too.

Meursault – Crank Resolutions (BBC Session)

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Wednesday 19th August 2009: The Phantom Band at Electric Circus.

I was not overwhelmed by the Phantom Band’s big, proggy debut album, released earlier this year, but I saw them at Homegame and they were excellent.  There’s something about that kind of multi-layered guitar sound which I think comes across really well in a live setting, and the Electric Circus has a pretty good sound system for it, so this should be a good ‘un.

The Phantom Band – The Howling

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Thursday 20th August 2009: Sparrow & the Workshop, Ivan Campo & Ross Clark and the Scarves Go Missing at Sneaky Pete’s.

I’m sort of lukewarm on Ross Clark, but Ivan Campo’s last EP was a really nice piece of relaxed folk pop.  And Sparrow & the Workshop are just fucking brilliant – pacy, fiery, low-fi Americana is what I suppose you might call it.

Friday 21st August 2009: Lovvers, Elvis Suicide & Divorce at Sneaky Pete’s.

Lovvers are very, very buzzy as far as music blogs go at the moment, so I am posting this gig here.  I know nothing about them though, so they might be shit.  They’re being talked about an awful lot though.

Saturday 22nd August 2009: Playing With the Past at the Filmhouse, with FOUND, eagleowl & Meursault.

This is actually a Film Festival crossover project, whereby all three bands were asked to write new soundtrack material for silent movies.  Frankly, it sounds like an amazing concept – British Sea Power did an amazing job with Man of Arran last year – and I am hugely looking forward to it.  You couldn’t find more innovative bands to do something like this either.

eagleowl – For the Thoughts You Never Had

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This lovely little EP, available from the band’s MySpace, somehow seems nothing like I would expect from a band from Preston.  Not that I know what I would expect from a band from Preston, but there you go.  The band they remind me of the most is actually the Zutons, albeit a version of the Zutons who have relaxed and decided to sing a Summer afternoon lullaby for a change.

I suppose given my track record, the songs I prefer on this are the ones which are the least poppy.  The poppier the band get, in fact, the closer they get to the likes of the Athlete and the aforementioned Zutons, and then I start to like it a little bit less.  Lotus Eater, for example is probably the catchiest song and what you might call the Obvious Single, but it’s much less my cup of tea that some of the more low-key material.

When they are at their best, in my opinion, they resemble a mellow, relaxed version of a sunny pop band.  A lot of the elements are still there, but it’s all slowed down into an easy, gentle stream, such as you might imagine being played on a sunny weekend afternoon.

Ivan Campo – The Great Procrastinator

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