Well I was really looking forward to seeing Julie Doiron’s new project Daniel, Fred & Julie this week, but it turns out the fucker’s cancelled, leaving us with little else but a gigantic, all-venue clusterfuck to disentangle on Saturday evening.

I generally don’t feel like the poor relation in musical bun-fights in Edinburgh, but on Saturday Yusuf’s album launch at the St. Stephen’s Centre is going toe to toe with the Leith Tape Club all-day special and, if that wasn’t bad enough, the three-venue, all day extravaganza which is Sneaky Fest.

I feel a bit like a comically feeble Disney character, armed with little more than a dinner fork, with a fire-breathing dragon on one side and an army of homicidally angry vikings on the other, desperately wondering if we can’t all just get along.  But these coincidences, annoying as they are, do just happen in the world of promotion, so only one thing to do: stop whining and just deal with it.

Actually, the Song, by Toad Records Commercial Strategy Department suggested that I just quietly neglect to mention either Sneaky Fest or the Leith Tape Club this week, but the grizzled, indomitable editorial team at Song, by Toad held out for journalistic integrity in the face of insidious commercial pressure – brave chaps, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Oh, and apart from those gigs listed below, Wounded Knee and Remember Remember are listed as playing the Electric Circus this week, but whilst it seems clear enough that Remember Remember are on Thursday 25th, the Electric Circus website is an utter nightmare to get any kind of useful information from, and although Wounded Knee are clearly written down there in the live music bit, it is not next to anything so useful as an actual date.  So erm, good luck.

Oh, and Laura Marling’s at the Liquid Room on Sunday too, but it’s already sold out and she’s incredibly fucking boring anyway, so no skin off anyone’s nose there.  Although a few of you perverts do actually like her stuff, don’t you?  I will never understand the internets.

Saturday 27th November 2010: Yusuf Azak, The Japanese War Effort and Ethan Ash at the St. Stephens Centre.

I’ve talked about the three Scottish launch dates in much more detail here, so suffice to say that I think the St. Stephens Centre looks like a fantastic venue, now that we’ve finally found one, and I would be deeply grateful to anyone forsaking our more glamorous competition to potter on down there on Saturday and enjoy some fine tunes and a glass of wine (it’s BYOB, incidentally, but there are plenty of places nearby).

Yusuf Azak – Eastern Sun

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Saturday 27th November 2010: Leith Tape Club All-Day Special at Cruz.

From Withered Hand to eagleowl, and from FOUND to Over the Wall, taking in a special mystery guest on the way, I have to confess that this looks like a brilliant evening.  And apart from sitting on the top deck in the blazing sunshine, it may be the first recorded instance of actual Fun taking place at Cruz since the days when it was the Guinness family yacht, and presumably saw parties that would turn even Lindsay Lohan’s hair white.

Withered Hand – Religious Songs

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Saturday 27th November 2010: Sneaky Fest three-venue, all-day bonanza.

This takes place in the Electric Circus, Cabaret Voltaire and Sneaky Pete’s, with one ticket covering all shows in all venues all day.  The full lineup is to be found by following the Sneaky’s link above, and includes the likes of Kid Canaveral, Washington Irving, My Tiny Robots, Kid Canaveral and Three Blind Wolves.

Last week I went to the Leith Tape Club for what was rather shamefully the first time.  It’s a tiny monthly night run in the Isolounge – just upstairs from the Isobar on Bernard Street – and has had some extremely good lineups in the months its been running.

Despite intending to attend on several occasions it took the fact that a couple of my friends were playing to get me to finally get off my arse and get along, and I am very pleased I did.  Apart from the fact that Leith, and the Shore in particular, is a brilliant place to go out the night itself really was lovely.  The Isolounge is all full of comfy seats, so it doesn’t take many people before it starts to get quite full.  This is a good thing, although it can result in a slightly oppressive need for absolute and total silence while the bands are playing.  Even a whisper can seem rude, but then, who am I to really complain about that; miles better than a fuller bar, but an audience composed of disinterested slackjaws who insist on gabbing away during even the saddest songs.

Alan the compere, also known as Little Pebble, MCs the night with enough character to be entertaining, but enough humility not to grandstand.  He basically leaves it up to the bands to garner the attention, and this kind of unpretentious friendliness pretty much permeates the entire evening – it was just a nice place to come for a beer and some tunes, simple as that.  The whole business is recorded to tape, and you can buy one either on the door or from the website.  Volume 1 has some very good bands indeed, so you won’t regret your purchase.

I remember a while ago I pointed out that Edinburgh’s more famous bands like Broken Records, Young Fathers, FOUND and so on make a huge contribution to the music scene here just by existing – that the work and financial commitment they put into constantly touring or their mere presence in the press spotlight brings attention, investment and belief to everyone else in the city trying to make music, whether they acknowledge it or not.

Shortly after that Rob St. John wrote a really nice piece for the Scotsman’s Under the Radar blog which, whether or not it was intended as a direct response, could easily have been so.  He argued that the health of a city’s music scene is reflected not in its marquee bands, whose wider profile can often remove them somewhat from the grass roots goings on in their home town, but in the number and variety of smaller, more local DIY bands and promoters.

The two views aren’t in conflict of course – in fact I think both are true – but it’s seeing nights like this put together which remind me of Rob’s article.  I urge you to come along if you get the chance – the lineup for the 1st October is brilliant and as good a place to start as any.