IT disasters in Toad Hall meant that this podcast was delayed so long that I ended up posting pretty much all of it on the blog before I got to record the thing and all the news was so outdated that I had to find some more news. Fortunately we have some pre-release splendidness from Elbow, Goldfrapp and Stephen Malkmus to make up for it.

There’s also some excellent unsigned music to be had as well, from Maxwell Panther and Meursault, as well as some splendid new singles from Elle S’Appelle and Operahouse. So it’s late, but some of this stuff is really quite excellent. And then there’s LCD Soundsystem who have taken me so long to get into that I am only starting to even enjoy the album now, some eight months or so after its release. What a fuckwit.

There’s a fairly detailed explanation of what is going to be happened with Song, by Toad Records in the new year as well, and how I am going to move these podcasts onwards and upwards. Unfortunately it takes the longest bloody link in recorded history to actual explain it all, but explain it I do. There’s always the track timings listed at the side of the songs if you want to skip it altogether though! Have fun, chaps.

Toadcast #20 – The Late, Late News

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1. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Gardenia (01.27)
2. Elle S’Appelle – Little Flame (06.49)
3. Operahouse – Born a Boy (09.40)
4. LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends (14.54)
5. The Hollies – The Air That I Breathe (24.50)
6. Goldfrapp – Little Bird (28.51)
7. Maxwell Panther – Too Many Magazines (35.47)
8. Meursault – The Furnace (39.37)
9. The 4Qs – Pieces of a Puzzle (48.03)
10. Kid Harpoon – Riverside (50.42)
11. Dubious Ranger – Slow Day (56.18)
12. Roger McGuinn & Calexico – One More Cup of Coffee (68.29)
13. The Heavy Circles – Henri (72.45)
14. The Brute Chorus (feat. Tiggs) – The Cuckoo & the Stolen Heart (80.15)
15. Elbow – Grounds For Divorce (88.13)
16. The Cave Singers – Seeds of Night (94.51)

As an adjunct to my other post about being well and truly ready to finish for Christmas and basically being unable to concentrate at work, I thought I’d let you know what I actually am spending my time doing: Toad sketches!  How come I can concentrate on these but not real work?  Well these are fun and something new and for me, I suppose.  And when I am supposed to be doing something sensible it’s surprising how fascinating even the silliest things can become.   Anyway, I’ve not coloured them in yet, but I thought I’d share these with you because I am finding this all rather enjoyable.

1. Toad playing with his records:

2. Toad has an accident with his gramophone.

3. Toad opens his Christmas present.

4. Toad makes time for his nearest and dearest.

5. Toad gazes rapturously at a picture of the lovely Mrs. Toad.

See, told you I’d been wasting my time.  Actually, I did most of those yesterday evening anyway, so it’s not too bad.  I quite like these though, now I just have to find a way to integrate them into the site.  Official Song, by Toad wallpaper anyone?

A couple of recent MySpace discoveries, with happy links:

Maxwell Panther I know I’ve only just posted about him, but I am really, really liking his rough demos.  There’s a really satisfying grumble to them, and the songs are superb.
Maxwell Panther – Down and Insideout

Jake Flowers You might remember my review of his EP with the Carol-Anne Showband earlier this year.  Well I loved that and by the sounds of it I am going to love his new EP Fireworks, which will be available in the new year.
Jake Flowers – There’s a Storm Coming

The Low Miffs Only just found out about these guys today, but they’ve got some Drowned in Sound love and been on Vic Galloway, so I appear to be a little slow once more.  Good though.
The Low Miffs – Cressida

Kottarashky Bulgarian dance music.  I kind of like this.  I have no idea why, because it really isn’t my kind of music, but it’s pretty cool I think you’ll agree. The mix of traditonal music with the dance stuff rather does it for me.
Kottarashky – Chetiri

Facebook may be where it’s at for a number of reasons, but MySpace still floats my boats simply for the music side of things.  Well, that and the lack of irritating people you weren’t really friends with at school littering your inbox with ‘amusing’ clips from YouTube of a monkey peeling a banana with its fucking arse cheeks, but that’s a rant for a whole other day.  A friend request landed in my MySpace inbox recently from a gentleman from Sunderland going my the nom de plume of Maxwell Panther.   Jesus the recordings are rough, but there is something about them that I really like.

The growly, scratchy songs are performed in a Lou Reed meets the Wave Pictures style, with a little Mark Lanegan and even Billy Bragg thrown in.  It all sounds like it was recorded on a tape recorder at the bottom of a cupboard in the next room, but its a style I find myself really warming to.  There are many down sides to the digital revolution, not least the steady decline of the economic viability of really high quality studios to make perfect recordings of music that benefits from that kind of equipment.  On the other side, it gives people like this the opportunity to record their songs easily.  He doesn’t need the posh kit, and the world is a better place for having Maxwell Panther’s songs in it.

The songs tend to be nicely turned explorations of modern life, coupled with a dash of borderline-existentialist anxiety, although it tends to manifest itself with enough anger and confrontation to never sound at all self-indulgent.  Given that the fellow lives in Sunderland with his missus and his five-year-old I can’t see him aiming for international stadium rock superstardom, although fuck it, it’d be better than fucking Razorlight wouldn’t it, but I reckon there’s more than a few people out there who’d like this stuff.  He’s a bloody good songwriter, and I love the ultra-low-fi production.  What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be!

Maxwell Panther – A Shade Away
Maxwell Panther – Rewire
Maxwell Panther – Too Many Magazines

Maxwell Panther’s MySpace page