Song, by Toad

Posts tagged lower dens

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Toadcast #212 – The Tartan Shortcast

Ah, Tartan Shortbread, that most wonderful of sardonic Scottish put-downs.

For those unfamiliar with the term, this is the offhand dismissal used to describe the sort of mawkish, clichéd tourist tat which masquerades as Scottish heritage and culture for those with woefully little imagination.  Alternatively, I suppose you could say that Tartan Shortbread is a blanket term for Scottish heritage as a sort of motorway service station take on national identity.

Anyhow, given I work very much at the coalface of the DIY music world in Scotland, I find that I have been oddly unsupportive of a large number of Scottish bands who have emerged in the last couple of years to considerable enthusiasm from the Scottish music press, both professional and amateur.

For some reason, the recent bands who have shown some likelihood of cracking an audience wider than the relatively narrow confines of the five million or so people in Scotland itself just haven’t appealed to me, with a few notable exceptions.  However, sitting down to assemble the playlist for this week I noticed that there were something like seven of the ten songs which happened to be by Scottish bands.  Oh, I thought to myself, I appear to be Scottish again.  How nice.

Direct download: Toadcast #212 – The Tartan Shortcast

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01. Django Django – Default (00.17)
02. Andrew Bird – Eyeoneye (08.41)
03. Lower Dens – Brains (12.47)
04. Randolph’s Leap – Bile (26.17)
05. Clean George IV – XP Avenue (32.51)
06. Dumb Instrument – Reverse the Hearse (35.57)
07. The Occasional Flickers – When the Sky Looks so Grey (41.11)
08. R.M. Hubbert – Sunbeam Melt the Hour (with Marion Kenny & Hanna Tuulikki) (50.20)
09. The Twilight Sad – Don’t Move (55.49)
10. Brown Brogues – Anyone But You (62.04)

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Toadcast #177 – The Scottish Enlightenment Toad Session

Video: Vimeo – YouTube
Photos: Flickr – Blueback Hotrod
Free mp3 downloads: zip file (right click – save as)

I first got into The Scottish Enlightenment back in 2007 when they released the Eyes single on Moojuice Records.  Then they went silent for a couple of years, to the extent that I thought they might have actually called it a day, but last year they came back stronger than ever before.

Two fantastic EPs and an equally excellent album were released on Glasgow’s rather awesome Armellodie Records, and in general I think it’s fair to say that it was a toss-up between them and Kid Canaveral as to who I thought the Scottish band of 2011 was (*cough cough* Song, by Toad Records bands apart of course)

Mrs. Toad operated one of the video cameras this time, and Dylan was on still and video cameras.  I recorded and edited this one – the first full band I’ve recorded since Sparrow and the Workshop back in 2008.  As per usual we have the podcast below, the freely downloadable session mp3s underneath that, followed by the videos we made for all the individual songs.  The tracklisting for the podcast is at the very bottom of the page.  Enjoy!

Direct download: Toadcast #177 – The Scottish Enlightenment Toad Session
The Scottish Enlightenment – Black Dog

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The Scottish Enlightenment – Earth Angel

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The Scottish Enlightenment – Get My Limousine

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The Scottish Enlightenment – The Universe is Drifting Apart

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01. The Scottish Enlightenment – Black Dog (Toad Session) (07.53)
02. Mitchell Museum – Warning Bells (14.53)
03. Lower Dens – I Get Nervous (18.54)
04. The Scottish Enlightenment – Earth Angel (Toad Session) (33.00)
05. At the Drive In – Arcarsenal (43.15)
06. Low – Starfire (46.10)
07. The Scottish Enlightenment – Get My Limousine (Toad Session) (55.55)
08. Eef Barzelay – The Ballad of Bitter Honey (63.25)
09. Blue Oyster Cult – Don’t Fear the Reaper (67.14)
10. The Scottish Enlightenment – The Universe is Drifting Apart (Toad Session) (79.47)

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