Song, by Toad

[Welcome back to the first Sunday Supplement of 2010, with Euan from the Steinberg Principle, amongst other things, returning to his regular slot.  Next week will see the return of Campfires and Battlefields]

So I might as well us this blog as the place to announce that The Kays Lavelle’s debut album entitled ‘Be Still This Gentle Morning’ will be released through Wiseblood Industries on 17th May this year. Or that is the intended release date. It may get pushed back, but we are definitely hoping to stick to our targets and make it happen. Anyways, lead of single ‘The Hours’ is now ready to go and attached to this article. It will be a free digital download on the Wiseblood site shortly. Two album launches are planned for 8th and 9th May, keep an eye out on my blog and the Kays lovely new MySpace page for more information about this. In the meantime, hope you enjoy ‘the hours’ which was recorded by Neil Pennycook of Meursault and mixed by Alex Fenton (Fentek Audio).

The Kays Lavelle – The Hours

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This week’s job is the finishing of the Honeytrap Toad Session, preparing the second Toad House Gig for Friday – brilliant brilliant brilliant! – sort of getting ready for the Toad Autumn Party at the Bowery on the 10th (Pineapple Chunky madness, woo!) and getting the Meursault singles pressed and the artwork sorted.  If I am dead by the weekend, do not be surprised.

Fortunately, the start of the week is relatively light on gigs.  Lightish anyway.  Tonight is free, so I should get a chunk done then.  I just fear the traditional upload hell which tends to accompany the finishing of these bloody videos.  Vimeo is a great service in many ways, but the uploading is flaky as fuck and incredibly annoying.  Still, that’s presumably a matter for Friday at 4am, if the FOUND session is anything to go by.

Tuesday 29th September 2009: The Blank Tapes & Magic Leaves at the Bowery.

I really like it when people around me get all giddy about the visit of bands I’ve never heard of – it makes going to a gig that much more exciting.  This is one of those gigs

Wednesday 30th September 2009: Wild Beasts & The Kays Lavelle at Cabaret Voltaire.

These guys are just on the edge of stuff I like – some of it I absolutely love and some I find just a little bit too much.  It’s camp and loose, but they write terrific pop songs nevertheless and I am really looking forward to seeing them live to get a bit more of a clue about their personality as a band.

Wild Beasts – Hooting & Howling

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Thursday 1st October 2009: Leith Tape Club at the Iso Lounge, with Animal Magic Tricks and Men Diamler.

The Leith Tape Club is a lovely night, with a small capacity and an initmate atmosphere, and conveniently right around the corner from my work.

Thursday 1st October: Meursault, Three Blind Wolves & Washington Irving at Sneaky Pete’s.

Three Blind Wolves are apparently Ross Clark-related, although I have to confess I know nothing about them.  Washington Irving are another new one on me, but I think we all know quite enough about Meursault by now.

Friday 2nd October 2009: X Lion Tamer & Nite Jewel at Sneaky Pete’s.

I don’t know why I like X Lion Tamer, exactly.  All that synthy 80s pop should be way more than I can handle, but oddly I find myself really enjoying it – basically I suppose because the songs are just incredibly catchy.  Night Jewel, I have to confess, I know almost nothing about.

X Lion Tamer – Neon Hearts

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Friday 2nd October: Animal Magic Tricks & Men Diamler play the second Toad House Gig.

These house gigs look like turning into really nice things.  The last one was bloody lovely, and with the lovely Animal Magic tricks and Men Diamler, whose music can be as mental as it can lovely I think this one will be a fantastic night.

Animal Magic Tricks – Smallish Hooves

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Friday 2nd October: Trespassers William, Glissando & eagleowl at the Wee Red Bar.

Gizeh Records’ allstar tour comes to Edinburgh, supported by local sorts The Kays Lavelle and eagleowl.  I have to confess I rather feared for eagleowl, who were somewhat threatened by a recent combination of relocation and fornication, but seeing them back playing (superbly) at the Withered Hand EP launch last week has cheered me right up.  They have about seven new songs recorded too, you know.  I’ve no idea what they’re going to do with them, but they have them, which is tantalising, but definitely rather excellent news.

Saturday 3rd October: Kid Canaveral EP launch at the Bowery, with Come On Gang and Cancel the Astronauts.

This lineup is ridiculously indie-pop-tastic, with Edinburgh’s three finest lining up in a show of defiance to all that moany indie-folk shit I insist on listening to.  This stuff is all about the infectiousness of the tunes, and Kid Canaveral are perhaps the most hummable band in the city.  Their new EP is out on download or, erm, tape.  Yes, tape.  Good fucking grief, it’ll be wax cylinders or fucking eight track next.

Kid Canaveral – Couldn’t Dance

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Obviously, from my perspective there is one big and important gig this week:

Sunday 9th August 2009: Animal Magic Tricks (with Pete from The Leg & Neil from Meursault) at the first Toad House Gig.

Use the link below to buy tickets and please do buy them in advance because we can’t have too many people in the house, and at the same time I would be gutted if it was empty, so it would help us plan ahead a little:

In the rest of the city, however, the Edinburgh Festicle well and truly kicks off this week.  This means that despite a rather quiet build-up, the weekend is just fucking mental, frankly.  My personal choice is going to be Trampoline on Saturday, I think.  I’m really interested to hear what Jonnie Common’s doing on his own, although Rob St. John was excellent at Electric Circus on Saturday and his show at the Portrait Gallery with Emily Scott should be fantastic.  I’ve probably missed out loads, but you really are going to have to expect that during August I think because there’s just going to be so much stuff going on, and not listed in the obvious and usual places either, so I’ll probably miss a fair bit.

I sulk about the Festival, honestly, because it tends to utterly steamroll anything which would actually happen in the city otherwise, but this year there does seem to be a lot of actual Edinburgh stuff taking place, particularly in terms of music.  For anyone wanting a full run down, Bart wrote an excellent summary of what to expect for the next few weeks last weekend, and you really should read it if you want a musically rewarding August.

Tuesday 4th August 2009: Debutant, Plastic Animals & Yahweh at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

This will be quite post-rocky and quite atmospheric and quite noisy.  Yup, noisy. Excellent!

Friday 7th August 2009: Woodpigeon & Woodenbox With a Fistful of Fivers at Sneaky Pete’s.

I have never been any more than a casual fan of Woodpigeon, but I am sort of liking their recent album Treasury Library Canada.  For me though, the real reason to attend this gig is the excellent Woodenbox who can be phenomenal live.
Woodpigeon – Cities of Weather

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Friday 7th August 2009: The Stranglers at the Picturehouse.

No, I am not a Stranglers afficionado, yes I would just be going for the famous ones, no I don’t care.  Sometimes ‘just the hits’ can be great, especially when they’re as great as Golden Brown.
The Stranglers – Golden Brown

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Friday 7th August 2009: The Radiation Line, The Kays Lavelle & Adam Stafford at the Wee Red Bar.

This is the official launch night for the Trampoline August shows, and will be a good chance to hear live versions of things on the approaching Kays Lavelle album.

Friday 7th & Saturday 8th August 2009: Mumford & Sons at Cabaret Voltaire.

Even though I am not really as keen on the band as I was when I first heard them, when they honestly blew me away, they are still phenomenal live.  It’s sort of gospelly banjo raucousness, I suppose, and bloody brilliant.
Mumford & Sons – White Blank Page

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Saturday 8th August 2009: Rob St. John & Emily Scott at the National Portrait Gallery.

I pretty much described why I thought this would be good in the main post didn’t I.  I shall just add that Emily is launching a new album, in case you need even more incentive to turn up.

Saturday 8th August 2009: David Byrne at the Playhouse.

What do I have to say about this?  The man was Talking Heads!  To cap that he’s been incredibly positive about what the internet can mean to young bands and had some very well-considered things to say about how to make the most of the new environment in the music industry.
Talking Heads – Hey Now (Yes, I know this isn’t ‘David Byrne’ per se, but bugger off, I love this album.)

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Saturday 8th August 2009: Jonnie Common, Animal Magic Tricks & Conquering Animal Sound play Trampoline at the Wee Red Bar.

This should be very low-fi and somewhat scratchy but with lovely underlying melodies, if my knowledge of both Jonnie Common and Animal Magic Tricks is anything to go by.  I don’t know Conquering Animal Sound, but then that’s why we go to gigs, isn’t it.

Sorry, I know this is going up late, but I have been working on the promotional material for the Jesus H. Foxx EP release.  There’s a fair bit still to be done, but for the time being I am cautiously optimistic that it is going to look fucking brilliant.  There will be a lot of painting to be done though, so putting the final touches on the thing is going to take bloody ages, but I think it is going to be easily worth it.

In other news, this week’s podcast is a prolonged chat with Euan (of Kays Lavelle, Trampoline, Steinberg Principle and Woodenbox fame) as a way of rounding up the excellent fortnight he spent feeding and changing Song, by Toad whilst Mrs. Toad and I were off gallivanting.  So, rather than make his usual grouchy, joyless comments on posts I thought I might invite him to make his grouchy joyless comments on a podcast.  So he came round and complained and complained and generally sulked his way through the whole thing, which was nice.

Oh alright, of course he didn’t. But it just wouldn’t be fun for me if I didn’t make fun of Euan for being grouchy long past the time anyone else has ceased to find it funny.

Oh stop sulking.  You’re turning into him.  All of you.  Shame on you, people, shame on you.  Cheer the fuck up for God’s sake.

Toadcast #77 – The Grouchcast

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01. Wilco – Bull Black Nova (06.39)
02. The Kays Lavelle – Scars From the City (15.14)
03. There Will Be Fireworks – We Sleep Through the Bombs (27.37)
04. Beerjacket – Father (31.46)
05. iLiKETRAiNS – Terra Nova (39.36)
06. Andrew Bird – The Giant of Illinois (50.10)
07. Finn – The Fourth the Fifth (61.47)
08. Fleet Foxes – Oliver James (65.29)
09. Tom Waits – Temptation (74.12)

As pretty much all of you know, Mrs. Toad and I have been away on holiday in Italy for the last couple of weeks.  In our absence Euan (from The Steinberg Principle, Trampoline and The Kays Lavelle) very kindly agreed to write Song, by Toad for me (and for you) to make sure things kept ticking over in our absence.  In this he was ably assisted by Bart (from, erm, eagleowl* and pretty much every other band in Scotland), assisted by Dylan (from Blueback Hotrod) and rescued by Tart (from Love Shack, Baby).

Apart from merely thanking them, which I genuinely do, I wanted to say what a fucking great job they did.  I knew Bart would do a fine job of the Monday listings because, before he packed it in, his Magic Marker listings page was always the first page I checked before writing my own.  Dylan’s general oversight was much appreciated as well, particularly as he wrote Toad himself for two weeks last year, so it was really nice of him to supervise generally, and provide training and the Friday Fives.  And Tart, thanks for stepping in and sorting out the filehosting issue, it really is much appreciated.

Most of all, though, it really has to be said and said again what a fantastic job I think Euan did with the site.  He and I agree on a lot of music, and disagree on a lot as well, and I think he was a little concerned that he might in some way alienate my readers by posting slightly off-message stuff.  Honestly, I think that was actually the strength of his choices.  From my perspective, and hopefully from yours, it felt a little like a fresh breeze in a dusty room – I actually thought it was brilliant that he posted slightly different stuff and gave everyone a change.

I also appreciate how much of a community we seem to have, that people are willing to donate their time for no real benefit to themselves and help out, and that really the whole site didn’t skip a beat in my absence.  I’ve been trying to think of ways to broaden the participation a little on this site, but have always been a little nervous of loosening the reins, and this was a really good sign that this wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

So thanks so much guys, Euan in particular, it really was appreciated and I thought you did a superb job.  And for those of you who want to read a little more, please go and check out Euan’s blog, because it really is worth reading.

And while we’re at it, congratulations are in order to Dylan, who has parlayed what began as ‘helping out with some pictures for the Toad Sessions’ into a first paid photography gig.  Go here to have a look.  They aren’t all his, just “most of the good ones” to quote the man himself.

Maximilian Hecker – Sunburnt Days

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And just to show you that things really are back to normal:

* Bart, you should know that it pains me every single time I have to respectfully decline to capitalise the name of your bloody band.  Every damn time.

Well the mammoth video nightmare of the last week is nearly over.  This week I will be working in the Meursault tour diary from when they went away to the North of England for a few days in our big green van.  They recorded some excellent sessions while they were touring, including three songs in the back of the van from some campsite in, erm, Lancashire somewhere I think, and also a few songs at a bandstand in Newcastle.  The tour diary itself might just be mental, and but for some judicial editing could easily become the most offensive musical document ever recorded (thank you Fraser, Preston’s a bit ‘rapey’ is it?) so I hope I can get it trimmed down to something vaguely family friendly before I go away.

Here’s a preview for those of you who are interested – this is a version of a new song called Sleet, as played in the Newcastle bandstand to an appreciative audience of a great many birds, and no, not the kind your average rock star aspires to have in his audience either:

As you know, Mrs. Toad and I are off in Italy for a couple of weeks from this coming Saturday and in our absence the splendid Three Toadsketeers of Dylan, Bart and Euan have agreed to take over the Good Ship Toad.  I will be enforcing a strict regime of alcoholism and offending vegetarians, so it should hopefully not be too far from the sort of unprofessional garbage you’re used to around here.  But I owe them all a massive thank you for taking this on, because I think it will be much nicer for everyone than just leaving it quiet for two weeks.

So, before I bugger off, what will I be attending?  Some of these things, I suspect:

Monday 8th June 2009: Cherbourg at Sneaky Pete’s.

Formerly Davie Fiddle and tour-mates of Mumford & Sons, these chaps play a very English-sounding indie folk.  If anything, actually, it harks back more to the folk rock of the late 80s and early 90s rather than the more glacial stuff of the last couple of years.
Cherbourg – Man

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Tuesday 9th June 2009: Withered Hand, Benni Hemm Hemm, Ish Marquez & Emily Scott at Electric Circus (map here).

This is the official launch for the EP Withered Hand recorded with King Creosote earlier this year.  He’s currently working on an album, which is almost through the mixing process and vaguely pencilled in for release in August or September this year, I believe.  The album is a full band job, but this EP is a much more acoustic, and the lineup for the launch party is nothing if not eclectic.  Incidentally, I filmed a couple of songs by Emily Scott at Homegame but she still hasn’t got back to me to tell me what they’re called.  They can be viewed here and here if anyone can supply me with the missing information!
Withered Hand – Shooby (Demo)

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Wednesday 10th June 2009: Cheveu & White Heath at the Bowery.

Cheveu are French and a little bit mental from the sounds of it.  Still, this kind of, erm, noisy, crackly post-stuff music should make for a good evening.  I hesitate to imagine what it might sound like live, but I think this is one of those gigs where you just have to turn up and see what the hell you get.  Support comes from the very promising White Heath, making what is I believe their Bowery debut.
Cheveu – Like a Deer in the Headlights

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Thursday 11th June 2009: Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers, The Kays Lavelle & Kristoffer Morgan at Sneaky Pete’s.

Woodenbox are a terrific live band, who have been working on some new recordings recently – as, incidentally, have the Kays Lavelle.  The former play stomping Americana, full of brass and rhythm, and the latter play piano-led indie ballads, which cross over into that sort of post-rock atmospheric aesthetic from time to time.  And both bands now share a piano player, as far as I am aware.  Kristoffer Morgan is a bit of a mystery to me, I must confess, this being the first time I think I’ve seen his name on a bill in these parts.
Woodenbox – Situations (I think this was recorded before the addition of the Fivers)

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Friday 12th June 2009: 7VWWVW, Albaross, Kyon & Spells Tower play This is Music at Sneaky Pete’s.

This is a crossover night between the ever-excellent This is Music characters and Crystal Wish Records, with a lineup full of bands I’ve never heard of.  Crystal Wish appear to be pretty electronically and experimentally orientated though, and these are always great nights, so I’d definitely recommend popping along.  This is Music generally do a podcast as well, in advance of their night, and that will appear here at some point in the next week, I assume.

Saturday 13th June 2009: Meursault, Wounded Knee & The Foundling Wheel play Trampoline at the Wee Red Bar.

I don’t really know what to expect from this gig.  The Foundling Wheel and Wounded Knee are a little more experimental than Meursault tend to be most of the time, but Meursault have been slipping some new material into their recent Edinburgh gigs and they definitely have it in them to be a little weird from time to time, so this might well be a bit of a treat for everyone.  If you like your music a little off the beaten track, that is.
The Foundling Wheel – Out to See

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Saturday 13th June 2009: Diane Cluck & Mary Hampton at the Bowery.

Diane Cluck is an (anit-)folk legend, so I really wouldn’t miss this if I were you.  Unless you’re going to the Wee Red, because I wouldn’t miss that either.  Thank fuck I’m not here to have to make this terrible decision!
Diane Cluck – Save Me

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Phew, and I thought it was going to be a quick on this week!

How many of you are there?  There’s only one of me, which looks like it might prove troublesome this week, particularly late on when the clashing gigs really start to stack up.  I am just back in Edinburgh after the Jason Lytle interview, which went very well in terms of being a most pleasant sort of chat, yet didn’t provide a particularly obvious hook on which to hang an article.  I may have to listen back and digest for a couple of days before writing it, I think.  It’s odd to suddenly find yourself in conversation with someone whose music you’ve been listening to for over ten years, though, so I guess that in itself might be an interesting angle to take.

This week’s activities on Toad will involve beginning to work on that interview, the writing up of a couple of gig reviews, and editing a big pile of Broken Records live videos.  So in other words it’s going to be fucking busy again.  I am also going to have a chat with Andy about redesigning both this website and the label site.  I find myself feeling inordinately guilty about not designing it myself, oddly.  This whole site has been entirely DIY so far, so that’s probably the reason, but at the moment I need it to be able to do things which are well beyond my own rudimentary understanding of code, and I simply don’t have the time to begin with, so there you go.  I’ll have a big input of course, and the Toad sketches will remain, but basically I’m going to try and let Andy get on with it as much as I can.  As a designer myself, at Proper Job, I know there’s nothing worse than a client who stares over your shoulder constantly while you’re trying to do your job.

So that’s it, this is being posted in the wee hours, and I am going straight to bed so that I can at least pretend to be functional in the morning.  I actually find a lack of sleep worse than a hangover in terms of its damage to my productivity these days, so these half one bedtimes really do have to stop.

Thursday 2nd April 2009: St Deluxe, French Wives & Team Turnip play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.

St. Deluxe are the new hot tamales around town, apparently.  I’ve had a listen to their MySpace and they do indeed sound pretty decent, although with such a brief listen I’m really in no position to say much one way or another.  They’re quite a rough and noisy band though, where French Wives and Team Turnip are a little poppier, but all three groups on this bill sound like good value to me.
St Deluxe – New Wave Stars

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Thursday 2nd April 2009: Tim & Sam’s Tim & the Sam Band With Tim & Sam at Cabaret Voltaire.

Tim and Sam and so on and so forth are big favourites of me old pal Drunk Country over at the Waiting Room, so he’ll be chuffed to know that they’re putting in an appearance in these parts.  I am rarely ever much of a fan of bands who play instrumental music, but I think that’s probably laziness on my behalf, and certainly these chaps make fine music under any circumstances.  It’s even better live, according to DC, so I’d recommend this one.  It’s a late one though, I think, so check the times before turning up.
Tim & Sam etc.. – Join the Dots

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Friday 3rd April 2009: Frightened Rabbit & Meursault at the Bowery.

I am fairly (but not entirely) sure that Frightened Rabbit are intending to play an acoustic set at the Bowery on Friday instead of their more usual melodic indie rock, and I do believe Meursault are following suit and unplugging all their electronic faffery as well, so this should be quite a special one.
Frightened Rabbit – I Feel Better (Live)

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Friday 3rd April 2009: Jesus H. Foxx, Y’All is Fantasy Island & the Hindle Wakes at Sneaky Pete’s.

Jesus H. Foxx will be mentioned some time later today when I write up their gig at the Bowery from last Friday, but believe me they are sounding very, very good at the moment.  Where previously they seemed to be fairly single-faceted (is that physically possible – never mind) there’s a lot more depth and a lot more confidence to their music these days.  They have an EP on the way too, which I am very excited to hear indeed.
Jesus H. Foxx – Trying to Be Good

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Friday 3rd April: Thomas Truax, Withered Hand & Greg Dodgeson at Cabaret Voltaire.

Is Dan from Withered Hand playing every single gig in Scotland at the moment?  Ah well, good for us if he is.  Apart from the music, Thomas Truax’s truly amazing homemade instruments make this a gig you really should attend.
Thomas Truax – The Butterfly & the Entomologist

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Saturday 4th April 2009: The Wee Rogue, Rob St. John & Ben Wetherill at the Bowery.

I don’t want to say anything that’s going to get me beaten up by an angry mob of nice, sensitive young men, but this is probably the least ‘anti’ of the many great anti-folk gigs you can find in Edinburgh in any given week.  I mean that in the sense that the ‘anti’ part is something I tend to treat as describing a certain lack of prettiness in anti-folk music, but even as specific a genre description as anti-folk is a bit too broad for that sort of thing these days.  Where was I?  Oh yes, expect fine, fragile and lovely music.
The Wee Rogue – Into the Mist

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Saturday 4th April 2009: The Gothenburg Address, North Atlantic Oscillation & San Sebastian at Sneaky Pete’s.

Should the loveliness at the Bowery prove just a little too gentle for you then Sneaky Pete’s is probably the place to be, where there will be Post Rock a-gogo.  It’ll be loud, I’d imagine, so get there early, find a spot facing the stage and just let it all wash over you.
San Sebastian – New

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Sunday 5th April 2009: Come On Gang, Vendor Defender & The Kays Lavelle at Sneaky Pete’s.

Come On Gang should be in a fine mood after their SXSW adventure, so their punk pop should have even more zip to it than usual.  It’s going to be a busy week at Sneaky Pete’s.  Is their booking getting better and better or is it just that I’m only just starting to realise that I should be paying more attention to what they’re doing?  Good stuff, anyway.

Sping.  SPRING.  Hurry the FUCK UP for Christ’s sake before we all go fucking mental.  Good grief what a long drawn out wait it has been.  Some sunshine would be nice.  A cup of tea in the garden would be nice.  Actually, even the chance to go outside of a weekend and rescue the garden from the tangle of weeds and fallen leaves it has become over the winter would be nice.  Obviously there’d have to be coke and whores afterwards, just to keep up the rock ‘n’ roll pretensions, but for now a nice cuppa and a Rich Tea biscuit in the back garden, with dirty hands and earth under our fingernails, would be very welcome indeed.

For those of you craving a spot of news, apparently Bob Dylan’s new studio album is being released in mid-April, which is rather jolly, I have to say.  I have no great expectations for it to be a heartbreaking work of staggering genius, but so what.  It might be a bloody good listen anyway.

Secondly, here’s a wee video of Broken Records (who?) recording their debut album, which will be released, erm, quite soon.  June 1st, it seems.

Monday 16th March 2009: Finley Quaye at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

You know, I never knew that Finley Quaye was an Edinburgh artist.  I actually rather liked Maverick A Strike, although I must confess to having largely neglected his stuff since.  I am busy tonight but just out of curiosity this looks like a rather interesting gig, if just to find out what he’s been up to all this time.
Finley Quaye – Even After All

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Thursday 19th March 2009: Limbo & Canongate Books present Irregular, at the Voodoo Rooms.

To say that this is an ambitious project sounds a little condescending, but in a sense I suppose it is.  This is going to be a combination of music and spoken word, with readings from recent Canongate publications mixed with live music from the likes of Black Diamond Express.  I have no idea how they intend to put it together or whether or not they can pull it off, but it sounds fucking fascination, frankly, and I shall be there for sure.

Friday 20th March 2009: Sleepingdog, Esperi & The Kays Lavelle at the Wee Red Bar.

There will be no mosh pit at the Wee Red on Friday, but Sleepingdog generate a kind of hypnotic loveliness which should bring a fascination of its own.  Essentially, it seems, a vehicle for Belgian lassie Chantal Acda, they’ve just released an album called Polar Life, a rather appropriate name, given the music, which I assume will be available at the show and from the sounds of the MySpace page should be rather good.
Sleepingdog – The Prophets

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Saturday 21st March 2009: Ballboy at the Wee Red Bar.

Ballboy are the Edinburgh indie-pop stars who never quite hit the escape velocity needed to break out of the city into the wider music-listening consciousness.  This is a bit of a shame because they’ve got some really brilliant songs.  Now there’s a new album as well, called I Worked on the Ships, which I have yet to hear but if their previous stuff is anything to go by should be a really enjoyable listen.
Ballboy – I’ve Got Pictures of You in Your Underwear

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Saturday 21st March 2009: Tunng at the Picturehouse.

Me?  Publicising a gig at the Picturehouse?  I thought I was trying to be alternative.  Ah well, people have been trying to get me to properly listen to Tunng for ages, most notably Ruth from the Bowery, so I thought that a live performance would be a bloody good way to start.  I’m rather looking forward to this actually – a bit of bleepery, a bit of slightly arcane folk music – splendid!
Tunng – Tale From Black

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I fucking hate it when people go to gigs and talk all the way through the bastard things. If you don’t want to pay any fucking attention to the songs, then piss off to another fucking pub. This is Edinburgh, there are thousands of places to go, so why don’t you just piss off somewhere else? Secondly, it’s just plain fucking rude.

So what could be more mortifying than to find myself at the Kays Lavelle gig at the Village in Leith last Friday, actually being the one talking too loud all the way through the fucking show. It wasn’t my fault, or at least to a certain extent it wasn’t. At least, there were mitigating circumstances anyway. Basically, because we ended up talking to this really nice couple outside, they talked to us inside, which is fine. Except that they talked really loud, were far too nice to tell to piss off, and very difficult to just quietly shuffle away from.

So basically, I am a coward and found it easier to be rude to Euan who was at least four metres away instead of the person a foot away chattering in my left ear, for reasons of basic proximity. Pathetic excuse isn’t it?

Anyway, I think the band had other more pressing problems, with some deranged old bag, a bottle of Buckie and a fistful of Es down, cavorted somewhat unpleasantly in front of them. You know when not-even-slightly-sexy-not-even-a-little-bit people try and do sexy dancing? It was like that. Actually it was worse – imagine someone who has clearly spent a lifetime jamming her wrinkled body with drugs and booze and nicotine, is probably pushing forty but looks nearly sixty, it at once saggy, emaciated, pale, malnourished, smothered in makeup, and with a crooked lear that would put the fear of god into the penis of even the most diseased gigolo? Now imagine trying to play heartfelt, emotional music with this gargoyle gyrating threateningly at you from a distance of mere feet away – I bet Euan never wished more sincerely for a grand piano in his life.

Anyway, the talky people left halfway through the Kays set, so I was able to enjoy the rest of it with minimal humiliation. Despite their fears for their stripped down lineup, just guitar and piano with Graham the guitarist playing a little drums from time to time, I thought they sounded excellent. There was something a little harsher about the guitar sound, for being so naked, and the general silence in the room served only to emphasise every droplet of piano. Once I’d managed to get my head out of my arse and actually listen to the bloody show, I really enjoyed it. I think Euan has a bigger, more anthemic sound in mind for the band, but I liked their spare set at the Village: there was lots of empty space to let the chords breathe.

It was a great night in general, actually. The Village is a really nice pub, and there are very, very few venues in Edinburgh that are nice places to be irrespective of the music. The importance of this is that indie kids – mostly blokes – will never be able to get girls along to Henry’s, because it’s a shit bar to hang out in if you aren’t really there for the music. And if we ever want to get big audiences for independent music in this city we have to reach out beyond the devoted fans because there just aren’t enough of us to go around. We need to get the people involved who are only kind of interested. So there. Rant over.

Check out Dylan’s excellent pictures here.

The Kays Lavelle – Swanfields
Hothouse Flowers – Shut Up and Listen
The Wedding Present – Always the Quiet One
The Coathangers – Shut Tha Fuck Up

[I was unfortunately too busy to attend this gig myself because I was at home compiling endless lists of bloggers to pester with promo copies of new Edinburgh releases, but Dylan was able to attend and has kindly written this review. Apart from making dubious comments about Rod Stewart's gentleman's equipment, Dylan is also the drummer in Uhersky Brod and the offical photographer of the Toad Sessions, and it's really nice of him to volunteer to write this review. Enjoy...]

Regrettably, I missed Ross Clark. I blame Lothian Buses and an hour-and-a-half bus journey home from work. As a result, I walked into Cabaret Voltaire just as Ross thrashed his triumphant final chord and swung his acoustic guitar into the air. But – wow – what a chord that one was!

So, for me, the evening’s entertainment really began with Barn Owl. I don’t know why all the young kids since the Arctic Monkeys have started strapping their guitars right up high into their armpits; I suspect it has something to do with learning to play while sitting down, but if any of them are reading: Guys, it just doesn’t look cool!

Anyway, as Barn Owl, securely harnessed by their guitar straps, launched into their opening number, it was soon apparent that we were on familiar territory. They practice an earnest variety of late 80s style baggy that will inevitably draw comparisons with early Charlatans and the first Stone Roses album, with the standard hints of New Order and Echo and the Bunnymen thrown in.

I must admit that Barn Owl didn’t really grab me at first, but after a hesitant start, they seemed to settle into something of a groove. They have an undeniable knack for a pleasing tune, and often embarked on extended instrumental passages to give those tunes room to breathe and develop. It’s an unusually unrestrained approach for practitioners of this style of music at the moment, and I found myself re-assessing the pigeon-hole I’d put them in earlier.

Barn Owl aren’t currently about pushing boundaries, but a lot of people will be happy with their unashamedly approachable style. As they grow in confidence and develop their identity, they could make a lot of friends.

Barn Owl MySpace | Barn Owl – Chasing Little Sparks

There was a switch at the top of the bill as The Kays Lavelle took to the stage ahead of Meursault. Or at least three members of The Kays Lavelle; unexpected personnel issues forcing them to perform with a stripped-down piano-guitar-drums approach.

This was my first Kays Lavelle gig, so I don’t have much of a frame of reference, but the sparsely furnished sound suited the introspective lyrics and haunted vocals. Bart seemed to be having a high old time squeezing spooky science-fiction noises out of his Fender and adding unexpected sound effects to Euan’s vocals, while the exploratory chords and refrains of the piano dovetailed nicely with Grant’s complex percussion patterns.

I think it’s fair to say The Kays Lavelle will have better shows than this, but they can walk away from this one confident that the band’s music and personnel are adaptable, and that, even on nights when everything’s not going their way, they can still play to the crowd and put on a show. To me, that sounds like a handy skill any decent band could be proud of.

The Kays Lavelle MySpace | The Kays Lavelle – The Chemistry Between

So following that, Meursault got the headline slot by default, and certainly made the most of it. On percussion, Fraser was visibly wilting under the hot stage lights for the first track or two. Until, from the back of the room someone delivered his trademark porkpie hat to the stage and, with an instant and almost magical effect, the little hat brought him back to life. This in turn allowed him to reinvigorate Meursault’s sound with the astonishing range of noise he gets from the cajón upon which he sits and the shakers he straps to every appendage.

Neil responded to the resurrection of his drummer by ratcheting-up the intensity of his own performance, his voice ranging between a plaintive croak and a maniacal howl often within a single phrase. As a frontman, Neil Pennycook cuts an arresting and imposing figure, the performance of his passionate and emotional songs forcing him to writhe around the stage as if possessed by a particularly sadist demon. It’s a gripping and mesmerising spectacle, and completely at odds with the delightfully affable gent he is offstage.

Meursault’s sound; with the acoustic guitar often taking a background role behind a heartbeat of incessant banjo arpeggios, explosive percussion noises and startling vocals, is striking and unorthodox, but it seems to possess a primal attraction that sees them picking up more and more devotees with each performance.

Meursault MySpace | Meursault – A Few Kind Words