[Welcome back to Euan's monthly column on Song, by Toad.  After (sort of, not really) telling me off for weaseling out of doing a Favourite Albums of the Decade list, here he presents his own.]

You know, I was planning to reveal my top 10 albums of 2009 on my own site, then I decided, where better a place to post my top 10 than on Matthew’s page. Given the indifference that my top 50 of the decade seemed to spark amongst his readers, I thought it would be worth doing my top 10 on Matthew’s page for one simple reason. I don’t think they will be 10 records that either Matthew or you as readers would choose. Maybe I’ll introduce you to something new. Maybe not. But I really do see a point to these lists. Just like I see a point to music journalism in general. As I said, to dismiss an exercise like this with comments like “I just don’t care” would seem foolish given the blog you are using in the first place. I care about Matthew’s top 10/20. And that applies to most lists. I even read, in its entirety, the NME top 50 of the decade.

Top 10 lists for a particular year perhaps have less significance? I don’t know. I was just thinking the other day that what’s so appealing about a top 50 or 100 of the past decade are the personal reasons for the choices. Why was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot my number 1? Why will it not be Matthew’s? It’s fascinating. And something I really do enjoy at this time of year.

Anyways, you can check out my top 50 of the past decade over at www.thesteinbergprinciple.wordpress.com if you can be bothered. In the meantime, my top 10 records of 2009 would be, in no particular order:

Withered Hand – Good News
J Tillman – A Year In The Kingdom
Fieldhead – They Shook Hands For Hours
The Antlers – Hospice
My Latest Novel – Deaths and Entrances
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
The Builders and The Butchers – Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well
Sufjan Stevens – The BQE
Wilco – The Album
Peter Broderick – Music For Falling From Trees

It’s busy week, in the absence of Mrs. Toad, and ends with me actually DJing twice in the space of two nights towards the end of the week as well once at some point on Friday, although I’m not all that sure where – Cabaret Voltaire I think – and then the following day at the Bowery at MarchéMarché , which should be good fun.  I have been promised that on no account am I expected to motivate people to dance, which probably helps matters considerably.

Oh, and I’ve just realised that I am approaching a hundred kilos in weight – 215 pounds, or 15 Stone 5 for those of you still living in the dark ages – so it might be time for just a little less beer, slightly fewer biscuits and for yours truly to get off his fat arse and do some exercise.  Bloody  hell, reality can be a bastard when it prevents you doing exactly what you want when you want, can’t it.

Tuesday 20th October 2009: Findo Gask & Everything Everything at Cabaret Voltaire.

Everything Everything I don’t know so well, but Findo Gask are a band who I really love, despite their distinct lack of material, considering the length of time for which the band has existed.  They have a couple of terrific singles to their name – electronic, danceable and infectious as fuck, with just a little sadness in the mix as well – and the only time I’ve seen them they were excellent, but that was a while ago now.  So I’ll be along on Thursday as much to see what they’ve been doing with their time, as to take the chance to enjoy their live show again.

Findo Gask – Va Va Va

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Tuesday 20th October 2009: Bat For Lashes & Yeasayer at The Picture House.

Personally, I think Bat For Lashes are pretty fucking dismal, honestly.  However I know a lot of my readers will be really up for this, so I thought I’d better mention it, just in case anyone was unaware this was happening.

Wednesday 21st October 2009: Mitchell Museum & The Scottish Enlightenment at Electric Circus.

These White Noise gigs start so bloody late they can fuck those of us with day jobs over for the rest of the week.  Still, I like Mitchell Museum, and the Scottish Enlightenment are returning to the fold after a very quiet couple of years.  They have a new album to show for their silence though, and have sent me a few songs through to sample, which I appreciate.  I’ve listened to them through a couple of times now, but not enough to really have anything clever to say about them yet, so I’ll just include one below and let you decide for yourselves.

The Scottish Enlightenment – Necromancer

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Wednesday 21st October 2009: Clues, Munch Munch & Over the Wall at Electric Circus.

I know nothing about Clues, bar this one promo song, and that the press bumph mentioned some famous bands like Arcade Fire and so when talking about their history.  So not much information, but the song itself sounds very promising.

Clues – Perfect Fit

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Thursday 22nd October 2009: Maps, Epic 26 & The Foundling Wheel at the Ark.

I quite fascinated by Maps, more from the descriptions I’ve heard than anything else.  I don’t actually know their music at all, despite their Mercury nomination a couple of years ago, but a band described as sonter shoegaze indie electronica sounds like a worthwhile punt to me.  Another plus is that these lot should be loud enough to silence the general chattering which the odd shape of the Ark tends to invite.

Friday 23rd October 2009: Meursault, Jesus H. Foxx, Y’All is Fantasy Island & the Occasional Flickers at the Bowery as part of the Oxjam Festival thingy.

The Bowery lineup is obviously the most Toad-friendly, with two of our bands on the bill, but there’s stuff happening all over the city on Friday.  It’s called Oxjam Take Over Edinburgh, I think, and one ticket gets you a wristband which will get you into everything – from the in-store performances at the Oxfam Music shop in the centre of town during the day, to this, to Sneaky Pete’s to Cabaret Voltaire and all sorts.
Full lineup and tickets here.

Meursault – The Furnace

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Saturday 24th October 2009: MarchéMarché at the Bowery.

This is actually a craft fair, not a gig, but yours truly shall be DJing at the event, so that’s all the excuse I need to plug it to within an inch of its life.  Promises promises, as Mrs. Toad is no doubt muttering to herself at the moment.

Saturday 24th October 2009: My Latest Novel at Cabaret Voltaire.

I haven’t had a chance to see these guys at all recently, and I’ve heard hugely variable reports from the gigs they’ve played here recently.  The last album was no better than decent, in my view, but I loved Wolves and I still really want to catch them when I can.

My Latest Novel – All in All in All is All

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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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I’ve been wrong about My Latest Novel in the past, and consequently I am a little wary of pronouncing any sort of definitive judgment on this album, but there’s only so long you can dodge a review, so I might as well inscribe my line in the sand here as anywhere.  The way it worked for me with Wolves was that for all I found the overall record a little unremarkable at first, there were one or two tracks I fell for immediately.  It took months, but I came to genuinely love the whole album.

In the case of their new effort Deaths and Entrances I have certainly found a good fistful of truly excellent songs; the two I’ve linked to below, I Declare a Ceasefire and A Dear Green Place, are truly gorgeous, and the first half contains some stuff I really do think is fantastic.  I am still no more than half there with the rest of the album though, I must confess.

It sounds, in all honestly, an awful lot like the last one in many respects.  Given I love the last one this is no criticism per se, and there has been incremental evolution.  It is not, however, as musically adventurous from one song to the next as Wolves was, and this is not necessarily a good thing.  The Broken Records album has been crticised – and it’s a criticism I agree with to an extent – for bulding to a grand crescendo in every song on the record, and although this doesn’t quite do so in the same style, exactly, the trajectory of each song is nevertheless very similar.

What this does to an album is rob it slightly of an emotional path of its own.  It somehow seems to have the result, despite it all having a very consistent sound, of making this sound more like an accumulation of songs than a single, coherent album, which works well as a collection.  It’s like an anthill – there may be lots of different ants within, all amazing little creatures in their own right, but the anthill itself can be something orders of magnitude more impressive in its own way, which each doing its own job within.  Unfortunately, because these ants all have the same basic design, the album ends up coming across as simply a bunch of ants rather than as an interdependent, unified colony.

I’ll wait though, and give this a few more listens, because as I said right at the beginning, I’ve been wrong about these guys in the past.

My Latest Novel – I Declare a Ceasefire

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My Latest Novel – A Dear Green Place

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Website | More mp3s | Buy from Resonance Music

This is called the Slowcast because there are so many songs and, more commonly, whole albums out there which I took ages and ages to get into, and for no really obvious reason.

There are several reasons, I guess: how familiar a sound is, your emotional state at the time, what your mates are listening to, how popular something is and stuff like that.  I know I’ve admitted plenty of times in the past that I have a habit of refusing to like things if they get too popular.  That sounds ludicrous, but it’s not exactly a conscious decision, more an instinctive recoiling.  I never have liked much popular stuff, although I do certainly go through phases.  Maybe that’s one of the reasons that, with the label, I am not looking to sign or work with the modern equivalent of a Top 40 band – I have never much liked Top 40 music.

Anyway, that’s not really the point of the podcast.  This is dedicated to those albums which for some reason you have to hear about a million times before you eventually, out of nowhere, realise that you love them.

Toadcast #72 – The Slowcast

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01. Billy Bragg – Honey I’m a Big Boy Now (04.36)
02. Tom Waits – Goin’ Out West (08.37)
03. Radiohead – My Iron Lung (14.14)
04. The Mutton Birds – Envy of Angels (23.42)
05. Mancino – Definition of an Accident (32.26)
06. The Mabuses – I’m the Greatest (36.09)
07. Interpol – Obstacle #1 (43.31)
08. My Latest Novel – Wolves (49.30)
09. The Wedding Present – 2, 3, Go! (55.29)
10. Yo La Tengo – Big Day Coming (59.56)

Well well well, Saturday was what I think can only be described as a truly epic party.  It started at about two or three in the afternoon when Found came round to record their Toad Session, which sounded absolutely lovely, continued into the back garden for a barbecue, turned into the Honeytrap Toad Session, repaired once more to the garden for further gluttony, returned to the house once night had descended, then turned into some sort of deranged music/cavorting session until the early hours accompanied by some truly heroic feats of drinking.

Quite how the whole house didn’t end up smashed to pieces is beyond me.  And quite what our neighbours made of a gaggle in inebriated imbeciles out in the back garden all evening bellowing salty anecdotes at one another in the most colourful of language is entirely beyond me.  If we are not careful we may end up with something of a ‘reputation’ in the neighbourhood.

Apart from other things, today sees the release of Broken Records’ debut album, which I will review later on this week.  I also have a special treat of some truly excellent live videos from their Bedlam Theatre set which will be published as soon as possible.  I’ll review the album in as objective a manner as I can, but for now, on a personal note, I want to just mention the fact that the lads have become good friends since I first saw them play about two years ago, and I am incredibly proud of them and delighted to see this record out in the shops.  Well done, boys, you deserve it.

Other things happening this week include the first night at the somewhat enigmatic Electric Circus.  This is a new venue whose website, whilst pretty, is sufficiently unfinished as to fail to include an actual address.  It is left to The Skinny to provide us with such trivial details, and a good thing they do, as the first gig to be held there takes place tomorrow, 2nd June, with St. Jude’s Infirmary and White Heath.  Intriguing.

Monday 1st June 2009: Teitur & Emily Scott at Cabaret Voltaire.

Teitur is from the Faroe Islands and has managed a couple of fairly high-profile movie placements for his songs already which, although it brings very important funds to an artist, doesn’t seem quite as useful at increasing name-recognition, because I am still yet to hear all that much talk about the fellow on the digital telegraph wires.  He makes lovely, acoustic pop songs, though, which should result in a state of serene bliss.
Teitur – We Still Drink the Same Water

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Monday 1st June 2009: Trachtenberg Family Sideshow Players at the Bowery.

This lot sound a bit mental.  The clue is entirely in the name – imagine what kind of madness you might expect from a band called that, and that is exactly what you are going to get.  Should be brilliant fun.
Trachtenberg Family Sideshow Players – Mountain Trip to Japan

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Thursday 4th June 2009: Punch & the Apostles & the Stormy Seas play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.

More Limbo excellence, with Glasgow band Punch & the Apostles and their raucous sound which veers from hyperactive swing to deranged carnival barking.  Supported by the Stormy Seas’ folk rock and a mystery third guest, who will probably turn out to be someone like Paolo Nutini or someone like that.  Or maybe not.
Punch & the Apostles – I’m a Hobo

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Friday 5th June 2009: My Latest Novel, Copy Haho & Mitchell Museum play the final Black Tape Club night at Sneaky Pete’s.

Black Tape take their final bow by introducing the new My Latest Novel album to the world.  I am listening to their gorgeous debut as I type this, and am genuinely fascinated to hear what they have to say for themselves next.  On record it’s all a bit more craftsmanlike, instrumental and lush, whereas the live sound is a lot more guitary and noisy.  I haven’t actually seen them live for ages, so I’ll definitely be along to this one.
My Latest Novel – Pretty in a Panic

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Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th June 2009: The Meadows Festival.

What are the chances of the gorgeous weather holding up until this coming Saturday when the Meadows Festival swings into life?  Pretty slim, from the looks of it, but we can hope.  Apart from plenty of splendid hippy shit like crafts stalls and local artists and stuff like that there will also be a good number of local bands playing at various times during the day, including Meursault, Jesus H. Foxx, White Heath, The Byrons, and quite a few others.  Have a look at their MySpace page for a more comprehensive list.

Yeah, Sweden, fuck you with your pleasant way of life and beautiful scenery, and legendary ladyfolk and being good at hockey and all that shit.

Well, no, that’s not what I meant by Fuck You, Sweden.  I’m sure it’s very nice there.  What I meant was to express was incredible frustration at that fact that for some inexplicable fucking reason, my computer thinks I am in Sweden.  There must be an obvious setting somewhere, but for something so simple, I can’t seem to find it.

Who cares, I hear you say, but actually it’s quite annoying. I can go straight to Google UK, for example, but when I type anything into that little search box on the top right of the browser window, it gives me the results in Swedish, and tries to send me to Swedish websites (no, not that sort of Swedish website).  This is merely annoying, but in writing yesterday’s Mimicking Birds post, I was actually sent to MySpace Sweden, for fuck’s sake.

Erm, anyway, I am writing this from the 6am train up from London after last night’s chat with Sony which was, erm, pleasant.  I am not entirely certain quite what was achieved, exactly, and I am wary of becoming part of the circle of mutual backscratching which is an inevitability for an insider in any industry.  But it was a fun evening, and it was really nice to meet Jamila, Tim and Brendan.  And it was really nice for Brendan to let me crash at his house.  As good as it was to see people at a big label in the UK start taking bloggers seriously, however, and as nice an evening as it was, I can’t help but feel that once we start going out for drinks on a major label tab we become part of the problem for the music industry, not part of the solution.

That picture at the top of the page was contributed by my friend Dev from New York, incidentally.  He does Blog Fresh Radio, which seems like it might be in the process of becoming Hype Machine radio, but I’m not entirely certain.  I’ll ask him next time we speak.  But he’s indeed right, this week’s five are going to be ‘mint’.  Gosh I’m street.

1. Oddest flavour of ice cream you’ve seen.
2. Name of a herb which sounds quite cool – just as a word, not the comestible itself.
3. Is frozen yoghurt any good?  Better than ice cream?  Just different?
4. Toppings – evil or splendid.
5. An ice cream-based anecdote from your childhood.

These five songs are all promo mp3s from recently or imminently released albums.  Isn’t that nice.  Actually, the St. Vincent one sounds rather good, I think. And My Latest Novel – can’t wait for that one.

My Latest Novel – All In All In All is All

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St. Vincent – The Strangers

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Maximo Park – Wraithlike

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Hysteric

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Eulogies – The Fight (I’ve Come to Like)

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Here we go folks: the first ever Toad Session, with local band and all-round Toad pals Broken Records. These sessions are generally going to take place in my living room, but seeing as these guys were quite keen to record one and their single release is imminent, it seemed sensible to rush things a little. So given my equipment has yet to arrive, we went down to Banana Row Studios and recorded four session tracks and had a bit of chat, and this is the result.

There’s a full podcast, mp3s of the individual songs, a Flickr photo gallery and couple of videos of the whole business, so there’s lots and lots of stuff to play with. I think in terms of workload I can possibly manage about one of these per month, so keep an eye out in the future.

Toadcast #26 – Broken Records Toad Session

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The mp3s include their forthcoming single If the News Makes You Sad Don’t Watch It, a couple of new tracks, Wolves and They All Fell Into the Sea, and a special Toad request, the truly beautiful Out on the Water.

Broken Records – If the News Makes You Sad, Don’t Watch It

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Broken Records – And They All Fell Into the Sea

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Broken Records – Wolves

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Broken Records – Out On the Water

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The videos are all posted on the main Song, by Toad YouTube page. There are session videos of Out on the Water and Wolves, but the video of the whole session will be posted a little bit later. We’re new to this, so the video editing is taking a little bit of time. It should be up in two weeks’, hopefully, so you’ll have to gird your loins until then I’m afraid, but I promise to let you know as soon as it makes an appearance.

Toadcast #26 Playlist:
01. Broken Records – If the News Makes You Sad, Don’t Watch It (03.34)
02. Broken Records – A Good Reason (07.27)
03. Micah P. Hinson & the Gospel Of Progress – Don’t You Forget (14.33)
04. John Cale – Paris 1919 (24.32)
05. The Moulettes – The Cannibal Song (29.40)
06. Yann Tiersen – Comptine D’un Autre Ete – L’apres-Midi (39.07)
07. Broken Records – And They All Fell Into the Sea (40.21)
08. Beirut – Elephant Gun (45.24)
09. The Waterboys – Sweet Thing (52.11)
10. Broken Records – Wolves (63.23)
11. My Latest Novel – When We Were Wolves (66.34)
12. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Love Letter (72.39)
13. Broken Records – Out On the Water (83.16)

If I have one slight issue with these it’s that they’re a little too polished and sensible, really. Not enough of the rude, random style I tend to think gives this site its character. Maybe recording them in the house will change this, but then the recordings won’t be as good. Thoughts? Too shiny? Good like this? Let me know what you think.