Alright, I know that by the end of January you are supposed to stop using terms like ‘new year’ but I reckoned it was about time for an update on these matters, and that seemed the most appropriate way of phrasing it.

So, with a flurry of album launches coming up in the late Spring/early Summer, we have a small but exciting fistful of gigs to tide us over until then, which I will list below.  Apart from the aforementioned launches, which we’ll generally try and do somewhere a bit strange, I am looking at putting on as many of my events as possible at Henry’s this year.

This is for numerous reasons, but chief amongst them Nora and Claire have been there at every gig and have been a real pleasure to deal with.  When you’re a relatively rookie promoter, having sound engineers and venue managers who just take care of shit in the calmest possible way makes a huge difference, leaving you to panic about attendance at your leisure.  Also, I just kinda like the place.  It’s scruffy, sure, but in many ways it’s a classic dive bar – it’s where gigs should be taking place.

Anyhow, our first gig is in a few weeks and it will be Armellodie Records’ Chris Devotion and the Expectations but umm… well, I’ll write down a handy list for you because, maybe even more than it loves kittens, the internet just loves lists doesn’t it. And as per usual, all tickets will be available from Brown Paper Tickets, and from Avalanche Records down on the Grassmarket.

Saturday 18th Feb: Chris Devotion and the Expectations, My Tiny Robots & Morris Major.

Chris Devotion and the Expectations have a new album out on the brilliant Armellodie Records, and will be playing some dates to support the release.  Their smart, slight stylised indie pop should work well with My Tiny Robots, who are also rather stylish indie poppers, albeit in a rather different way.

Friday 24th Feb: The Pineapple Chunks, Brown Brogues & Zed Penguin.

Er, ramshackle and idiosyncratic – is that the best way to describe this lineup?  I think it might be.  Zed Penguin have a new EP and a new full band lineup, and Brown Brogues a new single on the way, so this should be perfect timing.  All these bands make a bit of a racket, and none of them seem entirely right in the head, which er, well, should probably make for a brilliant night I reckon.

Saturday 25th Feb: Louis Barabbas and the Bedlam Six, Skeleton Bob (I think) and Lee Patterson at the Third Door.

Louis Barabbas were absolutely mental and absolutely brilliant when they last played Edinburgh, in the middle of last year.  They’ll be joined on the bill by Lee Patterson, who I first happened across at this year’s Antihoot in the Summer, and hopefully Skeleton Bob.  Actually, for all they said ‘yeah, awesome’ when I asked them to play, I have yet to get proper confirmation from Skeleton Bob actually, so I’d better get on top of that, now that I think about.  Also, please note that this gig is at the Third Door, not Henry’s.

Friday 9th March: So Many Wizards and LeThug.

This will be a pop night, sort of.  All the bands take their pop and make it weird, be it by fuzz or by skewed eccentricity.  So Many Wizards are over touring from the States, and LeThug are a really promising new Glasgow band I wrote about on Song, by Toad recently, and if you haven’t already checked out their stuff then you should.

Saturday 24th March: Post War Glamour Girls, Dolfinz and Slowcoaches.

Two Leeds bands accidentally ended up on the same bill here, so I hope they get on. Dolfinz are favourites of ours already, as you know, and they are touring with Slowcoaches, so you can expect some fine, garagey racket from those two.  Post War Glamour Girls are just a tad more restrained and stylish I think

 So, what’s happening with you lot this week?  I myself am getting ready to do a spot of recording with Waiters and Sex Hands, who are up from Manchester to put together a split 12″ which we’ll be releasing in, er… April, I think, assuming all goes well.

So, once more to offend the neighbours with the battering of drums and the sound of loud guitars.  The good news is that Mrs. Toad is off to the States on grown-up business this week, so that’s at least one less person to annoy with the racket and the mess.

Once again, there’s not all that much on this week, but what there is looks really interesting. Sneaky Pete’s website is down at this particular moment, so I can’t check what they have going on at the moment, but you can check yourself here when you get the chance, and hopefully it will be back up and running.

Thursday 12th Jan: FOUND launch Atmosphere|Memento at the InSpace Gallery.

I’ll be honest with you, I know next to nothing about this. FOUND are involved though, and pretty much everything they touch turns to genius, so I’d recommend it whatever it is.  According to the blurb on the site they are presenting two different chronologies of the same story to two different audiences, one being linear, and the other more fragmented, to represent the story of a man who can no longer form new memories.  Sounds a bit weird, but fascinating, but then that’s FOUND for you.

Saturday 14th Jan: My Tiny Robots single launch at The Third Door.

As well as being the launch night for My Tiny Robots’ new single will be the first night of a new concept at the Third Door called Video Loves the Radio Star, a collaboration between Ten Tracks, who book for the Third Door, and video LaB. My Tiny Robots will be looking to follow up a couple of excellent singles last year with Zut Alors (preview below), and I can only assume they are building towards a debut album – one I will be most interested to hear.

 First things first, I must inevitably apologise for the horrendous lateness of this podcast.  Between my mum visiting, the gig on Sunday and the Samantha Crain Toad Session we recorded on Monday there just hasn’t been enough time to catch up.

It’s that end of year time, too, when lists are being made, accounts submitted, the last releases of the year tended to and plans for next year being finalised, so just when I thought that I could coast into Christmas, it turns out I actually have just as much work now as at any other time of the year.  Ah well, whinge whinge, etc.

This podcast is called the Saxcast because I happened to be listening to Timber Timbre the other night, and one of their songs features the saxophone quite heavily.  It occurred to me at the time that not only does almost no-one use that instrument at the moment, but despite the eighties ending over twenty years ago, it still seems almost completely taboo, within the kind of musical circles I move in anyway.  Needless to say, this was all it took for me to devote an entire podcast to the instrument.

Direct download: Toadcast #202 – The Saxcast

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01. Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band – It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City (Live) (00.27)
02. Timber Timbre – Do I Have Power (09.02)
03. Quiet Americans – Summer House (16.54)
04. Samantha Crain – Two Sidedness (20.02)
05. Hazel O’Connor – Will You (25.09)
06. Woodenbox – Twisted Mile (33.42)
07. Monster Rally & RumTum – Raindrops (39.53)
08. My Tiny Robots – Guild of Defiants (42.37)
09. David Tattersall – The Typewriter Ribbon (47.51)
10. Mark Knopfler – Going Home (Theme From Local Hero) (58.30)

This week’s live events will all have to get along happily without the encouragement of my excellent self, as my only live music experiences this week will be taking place in Anstruther, Fife, at the Fence Collective’s fucking marvelous Homegame Festival.

It actually looks a bit thin in my absence, I have to confess, but there are a couple of early gigs next week worth bearing in mind, because I might not get the chance to write this post in anything like a timely fashion on Monday, depending on how we do getting back from Homegame.

Next Monday 9th May, Josh T. Pearson will be playing with Drive by Truckers at the Queen’s Hall.  I know nothing whatsoever about Drive by Truckers, but Josh T. Pearson is incredible, and absolutely mesmerising live, so if you can go to that, then go.  Then the following day, on the 10th May, Domino Records’ latest signings Francois and the Atlas Mountains, This is the Kit and Babe will be playing at the Bristo Hall, upstairs at the Forest Cafe, from about half seven onwards.  This will be a BYOB event in support of the Forest Cafe, with corkage charged on the door.

This week, however, we have the following happening:

Friday 6th May 2011: Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers, Matt Norris and the Moon & Trapped Mice at Cabaret Voltaire.

Woodenbox are an excellent live band, full of all sorts of stompy, raucous fun, a swinging brass section (‘swinging’, am I allowed to call it that without coming across as a bit of a dick) and a sense of enjoyment and energy matched by few bands on the Scottish scene at the moment.

Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers – Twisted Mile

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Saturday 7th May 2011: The Wave Pictures and My Tiny Robots at Cabaret Voltaire.

The Wave Pictures are a cracking band, and brilliant live as well.  Their music is so bloody simple as well and the lyrics, great as they are, sound like they could be part of any normal conversation. Highly recommended.

The Wave Pictures – Leave the Scene Behind

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I have mentioned often enough on this site how much I like EPs, not least for their lack of what I suppose Americans might call a Seventh Inning Stretch – that weary feeling you get about two thirds to three quarters of the way through an album, where your attention starts to wane and you wander off to make a cup of tea.

Anyhow, I have a lot of them in my inbox at the moment, all good for varying reasons, but it seems like I would be excessive to write a separate post for each, so figured I would condense four of my favourites down into a single post for your efficient musical enjoyment, in alphabetical order by band name:

Cheapskate – Knock Knock Knock

This is actually a free download from the Cheapskate website, which appears to be down at the moment, but is also available from last.fm in the meantime.  I first found out about this band from Cloud Sounds, and it’s not the kind of music to shock you or make you sit up straight immediately you hear it, but it’s odd, and oddly compelling.

There are times when it sounds like music from children’s TV, times when it sounds like a peculiar advertising jingle, and times when it’s just sinister enough you might be worried about your teenage daughter listening to it.

In fact, this probably comes across a lot like a MySpace groomer, except in musical form: superficially friendly and oh so innocent, but with something oddly out of place and not quite right, but never so strange as to let you put your finger on it entirely.

Cheapskate – Get Up Early

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My Tiny Robots – Rock Bossa Nova EP

This EP is short and sweet, checking in at a mere four songs, with the first one swerving shy of the two-minute mark.

Stylistically it’s an interesting mish-mash.  The first track has rather surprising hints of Maximo Park, of all things, but the rest of the EP tends to embrace seventies alt-pop sung in a voice which sits halfway between new wave and a barroom croon.

It sounds sort of cocky at times, I think, with the guitar played with a stylish swagger and the rhythms feeling kind of suggestive, although not in a way that is too obvious.  Good stuff though, and given these guys seemed to be in danger of petering out until quite recently, it’s good to see ‘em back in the game, and back so strongly as well.

The My Tiny Robots site is here, and you can buy Rock Bossa Nova here – the physical copy of the CD really is gorgeous though, so I recommend pestering them about that, rather than settling for mere downloads.

My Tiny Robots – Rock Bossa Nova Fourbeat Black

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Randolph’s Leap – Battleships and Kettlechips

When will bloggers learn not to go starting record labels?  It’s a natural extension of the instinct to spend all your time writing about your favourite music though I guess, so it should be no surprise really, particularly in the age of the internet where there actually is an audience out there to be reached now that the traditional gatekeepers are floundering about like buffoons in search of their lost customers.

Step forward Olive Grove Records, and debut release, Battleships and Kettlechips by Randolph’s Leap. Randolph’s Leap are clever and sensitive, with a tongue in cheek way with their lyrics, and the ability to combine the sincere with the amusing which few manage this well.

I hate words like quirky, but it’s hard to avoid with bands like this.  Not that there’s anything zany or madcap about them, more that there are plenty of moments on this EP where I find myself looking up and actually cocking an eyebrow at the speakers, wondering quite how these guys see the world.  They seem like the kind of lunatics who are absolutely convinced that they are sane, and who tolerate the rest of the world’s eccentricities with a genial sympathy.

Randolph’s Leap – As I Lie in the Mud

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Willy Mason – So Long Baby Shoes

There was a time Willy Mason seemed oh so very close to becoming one of my favourite artists.  That he didn’t quite owes an unreasonable amount to a disappointing show at the Liquid Rooms about four years ago, where the full band he played with rather smothered the loveliness of his songs, making it all sound less remarkable than it actually is.

Shame on me, I actually stopped really paying attention with anything like the same enthusiasm after that.  I suppose it doesn’t help that he seemed to drift back from the verge of a major, permanent breakthrough to the vastly different world of self-release, meaning his new stuff wasn’t as enthusiastically forced on me as it might have been.

This is bloody gorgeous though.  The arrangements are really simple, leaving the emphasis on his lovely, lovely voice, and gentle, tender lyrics.  It’s sufficiently lovely that I feel like a right disloyal bastard for letting his music drift out of my life for the last couple of years.

The website of his UK fanclub is here, and you can buy So Long Baby Shoes from CDBaby here.

Willy Mason – I Wish I Knew How to Say Goodbye

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It’s not going to surprise anyone at all that I am being an absolute slob today, is it?  Mrs. Toad got back from Australia around lunchtime, and after a few hours of pottering about she crashed out with jetlag, so I snuck off to record the podcast.  I am sure that soon enough she will wake and start demanding attention and general servitude soon enough, so I better get this over with quickly.

After that I am going straight back to bed to watch stupid films while my sweetheart dozes by my side, awaking occasionally to tell me off for not being comfortable enough, or to send me to fetch her things, or to just swear at me for taking all the covers or some other such sweet nothings of the kind she is wont to come out with from time to time.

Direct download: Toadcast #148 – The Slobcast

01. Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Shampoo (00.21)
02. Elvis Costello – Couldn’t Call it Unexpected No.4 (06.24)
03. Billie Holiday – Good Morning Heartache (13.17)
04. Smog – In the Pines (16.22)
05. My Tiny Robots – Ballad of the Mapmaker’s Daughter (23.17)
06. Randolph’s Leap – Going Home (32.19)
07. The Japanese War Effort – Face Like a Lemon (Ivor Cutler cover, live on Fresh Air Radio) (36.50)
08. Grass House – Lazy Bones (43.01)
09. Bob Dylan – I’ll Keep it With Mine (49.23)
10. Bettye Swann – Don’t Look Back (54.47)

After a weekend of alcoholic liver-punching with the awful cunts from Gerry Loves Records I find myself back in Edinburgh with Mrs. Toad off in Australia and nothing between me and an entire week spent on the internet in my pants with a jar of pickled onions and a jumbo packet of pork scratchings.

In fact, that sounds like a pretty good plan, all told.  Balls to dignity, self-respect and hygiene.

Wednesday 10th November 2010: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone & My Tiny Robots at Sneaky Pete’s.

If ever a band’s music were better described in their band name than anything any reviewer could write it is Casiotone. And if you don’t come along on Wednesday you will never see them again, ever.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – Natural Light

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Thursday 11th November 2010: My Tiny Robots, Donna Maciocia & Enfant Bastard at the Caves.

This gig was very nearly a casualty of the collapse of the Settlement, but quickly found a home at the Caves, fortunately.  My Tiny Robots played smart acoustic pop songs the last time I saw them.  That was some time ago though, and I am looking forward to giving their new EP (for which this is the launch night) a good listen this week.

My Tiny Robots – Ghosts

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Friday 12th November 2010: The Scottish Enlightenment, Jesus H. Foxx & Trapped Mice at the Wee Red Bar.

The Scottish Enlightenment aren’t far from being my new band of the year, I think.  And I’ve only seen them once, which is a bit stupid.  St. Thomas is a fantastic piece of melancholy guitar music, and one which always seems to retain a sense of optimism and belief, and I am really looking forward to this gig.

The Scottish Enlightenment – Necromancer

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Friday 12th November 2010: Limbo, with Over the Wall, How to Swim & the Oates Field at the Voodoo Rooms.

Over the Wall also have a new album on the way, although far from the brooding of the Scottish Enlightenment, I imagine theirs will be just a little bit more bouncy and cheerful.  How to Swim may not approach their music with the same instruments, but that sense of manic exuberance is very much still there – perfect for wishing the Limbo lads happy third birthday.

Over the Wall – Shifts

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This is one of those weeks where I think that I really haven’t got much on, but then I look at every single evening and they all look jammed full of jobs to do.  Gripe whinge piss moan etc etc etc…

Anyhow, as well as various other little crappy jobs, I have to collect our two Pioneer amps from the amp repair shop, which is good news.  We keep on burning these fuckers out by playing things far too loud, and so we’ve been without music in our house for the last week, apart from a shitey pair of speakers we plug into the computer.  These, whilst just about serviceable in an emergency, do not, frankly, cut the mustard, so I am delighted to be fetching the big bastard noisy ones again so we can turn shit up nice and loud once more.

Ours aren’t particularly expensive either, but apparently people go crazy for this Pioneer Silver stuff.  There are collectors and all sorts, and we saw a couple of very nice ones indeed changing hands on eBay for hunnerts of pounds.  One to stay well clear of whilst drunk, I think it’s safe to say.

Tuesday 27th July 2010: Dum Dum Girls, Jesus H. Foxx & My Tiny Robots at Cabaret Voltaire.

The Dum Dum Girls play slightly lo-fi indie pop, with an emphasis on the pop.  There are lots of ahh-ahh choruses and things like that, and the guitars are nice and growly.  Jesus H. Foxx are also coming out of hiding for this one, which will be a nice treat for us all!

Dum-Dum Girls – I Will Be

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Thursday 29th July 2010: Trapped in Kansas & Yahweh split single launch, with the Japanese War Effort at the Wee Red Bar.

Gerry Loves Records win at vinyl.  Their last release, apart from being a pleasure to listen to, is also a pleasure to own.  They put real thought into the packaging of the thing and make the whole object something you really, really want to own.  This is their second release, and given how the label go about their business I really, really hope it all goes well for them.

Saturday 31st July 2010: eagleowl & Conquering Animal Sound play at the We Sink Ships: Elements short film screening at the Wee Red Bar.

This kind of cross-media stuff doesn’t happen nearly enough around here, but then I suppose a straightforward gig with three bands and some beer is a lot simpler to slap together, whereas this kind of thing requires a little more thought, I guess.  Elements is, I think, a film put together by Sleepysoul productions using a combination of their own images and work by Heidi Kuisma and Neil Milton (who are We Sink Ships), but I couldn’t swear to it.  Whatever it is though, it sounds like a really good evening, not least because whatever the film is the two bands involved are really good.

eagleowl – Laughter (Toad Session)

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Never mind fucking jetpacks, SPRING is what I was fucking well promised.  A few weeks ago I awoke to a pleasantly mild morning and strolled into work without ducking the head or turning up the collar and genuinely believed that Spring was on its way.

It wasn’t, of course, it was just Mother Nature fucking with my head.  I remember last year the crocuses and snowdrops were out in January, it was that warm, whereas this year it is pretty much April and they are still not out in the shadier parts of the garden.

A couple of other things blooming, to stretch a metaphor slightly, are the venues of Edinburgh.  After taking a while to get their new regime into place, the newly rechristened Roxy Rooms seem to have started to get some interesting bookings again.  The Liquid Rooms, which burned to a crisp when the Indian restaurant above them caught fire something like a couple of years ago, are on the verge of being ready for reoccupation.  I don’t know how soon, but hopefully in the next few months.  And having been used quite heavily during Sunday’s Haddowfest it looks possible that Maggie’s Chambers might be considering booking a few more gigs.

Given that a music scene cannot thrive without venues to house it, and given that we’ve been really rather stretched not just for good venues but for people willing to book them in recent months, this all seems to be good news for local bands and labels.  So it might be Springlike in a sense, even if it’s still fucking miserable and cold outside.

Monday 29th March 2010: Benni Hemm Hemm, Tisso Lake & Skeleton Bob at the Roxy Room.

Benni Hemm Hemm was excellent at Homegame, with a three-piece brass section adding depth to his sound, and the last time I saw Tisso Lake I was really impressed both with Ian’s voice and his guitar-playing, which had a really nice sound to it.  Tisso Lake will be in band rather than solo format tonight, with Skeleton Bob rounding off a really good lineup.

Tuesday 30th March 2010: Race Horses at Sneaky Pete’s.

I had a quick listen to these guys and ‘fucking mental indie-pop’ is probably the only expression which springs to mind.  It has a very 90s vibe to it as well, which you might either consider woefully unfashionable or on the verge of becoming the next big thing, depending how far along the invent-hate-rehash cycle you are with that particular decade’s aesthetic.

Race Horses – Cake

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Tuesday 30th March 2010: Beneath Us, the Waves, The Japanese War Effort & Euan McMeeken at the Wee Red Bar.

Something tells me that between the sounscapes, the glitchery and the balledry of these three bands there will not be a mosh pit at this gig.

The Japanese War Effort – For the Backroads

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Friday 2nd April 2010: Conquering Animal Sound & Debutant split 7″ launch at the Roxy Room.

This is not just the launch night for the CAS/Debutant split 7″, but also for the brand spanking new label which is releasing it: Gerry Loves Records, from the team which brought you OfftheBeatenTracks.tv.  They are apparently going to be focussing on releasing beautiful artefacts, which sounds like a terrible way to make money, but a splendid way to release music, as far as I am concerned.

Debutant – Definition

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Friday 2nd April 2010: My Tiny Robots, Cancel the Astronauts & Lovers Turn to Monsters play This is Music at Sneaky Pete’s.

There will be indie-pop, and afterwards there will be drinking and dancing.  Lots of it.

Sunday 4th April 2010: Admiral Fallow & Baby Bones at Sneaky Pete’s.

All I know of Admiral Fallow is that they are either the re-born, re-jigged or simply re-named Brother Louis Collective.  The stuff on their MySpace page sounds quite promising and this might well be worth a punt.

I am writing this week’s post from a dining room in Ealing, where I have come to visit my parents, and also to pretend to be a proper record label for a couple of days – courting publishers and getting European releases and tours sorted out and that sort of thing.  It’s kind of fun, and sort of weird in a sense.  It’s also strange explaining to my folks that this is actually what I do in my spare time, too.

Anyway, due to the incomparable glories of the internet age that should be no impediment to me shamelessly insisting that you do what I tell you this week, when it comes to entertainment.

Oh, and my friend Billy has written an article for The Line of Best Fit about the Scottish music scene.  In it he tells us what I tell every band we work with – that it’s all well and good to play comfortable venues back home surrounded by people who you already know like your music, but if you want to make any kind of breakthrough you’ve got to get out.

Of course, I have no objection to working with bands who don’t want to do this, but I always tell them that if that’s the case they’ll have to accept that this will make it very challenging indeed to make any kind of impact on a wider audience, but if they can accept that then so can I.

Wednesday 27th January 2010: Chew Lips, Boycotts & My Tiny Robots at Sneaky Pete’s.

Chew Lips are awfully fashionable and have haircuts and everything, but of course that doesn’t always have to mean that a band aren’t good.  In this case, I’ll confess to being a little ambivalent, but curious.  I was tipped off about the band a little over a year ago, but I didn’t end up writing about them because for all I kind of liked it, I wasn’t all that convinced.

They’ve gone from strength to strength however, and their album looks very upmarket, and frankly I’m curious to see what they’re up to these days and whether or not I might like them any better than I did before.  And it’s very good to see My Tiny Robots back playing again.

Friday 29th January 2010: Andrew Vincent, Sebastian Dangerfield, Andrea Marini at Sneaky Pete’s.

This one actually looks like being really good.  I don’t know much about Andrew Vincent, but his MySpace page sounds rather promising, and after months of prevaricating I finally put Sebastian Dangerfield on a podcast just this week.  So this is one of those ‘curious’ sorts of gigs – the bands sound good, but I know very little about them, and so this lineup sounds rather intriguing.

Saturday 30th/Sunday 31st January 2010: Hidden Door Festival at the Roxy.

Lots of very Toad-friendly bands (Foxxes, Broken Records, etc..) are peforming at this one, but it’s not going to be a gig per se.  Actually, I’ve not much idea what it’s going to be like, but the publicity material describes something like an multi-disciplinary art exhibition, with the stated goal of being “more party than gallery”, where visual artists, musicians and so on all interact and try and do something a bit different.  Sounds brilliant to me, frankly.

Sunday 31st January 2010: Sick Kids Sunday at the GRV.

Charities seem to put on some of the best gigs in this city, and Sick Kids Sunday is no exception.  Held at the GRV (who are thankfully, finally getting their pretty enough but practically useless website updated) this one has all sorts of good stuff in the lineup, from Meursault to James Yorkston and Adrian Crowley performing the songs of Daniel Johnston.