Oops!  Sorry we’re late.  Thankfully, we’re not pregnant.

What a couple of tech-fart heavy days.  Firstly, the show we done prepared/recorded for Wednesday 29th done got killed dead by our glitch-ridden editing software (now retired & replaced) as we were transferring it from one format to another. Gone, it were, plain old gone. To compensate & salvage some professional pride we put the show back to Saturday 31st in order to allow room to breathe & re-record the entire thing (essentially a re-record of the pre-record).

Secondly, we took it as a given that the show was all uploaded & ready to air, via an auto-post for 10pm Saturday 31st, so we turned the computer off & took a much needed relax/sleep.   Imagine our aghastness, then, when today, late afternoon, Sunday 1st February, we discovered the damn auto-pilot had (again) failed to launch.  Buggeration.

Thirdly, we forgot to bloody write the post for this here site – jetlag, see. A contemporary middleclass disease, I’ll have you know.

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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long that I ended up posting pretty much all of it on the blog before I got to record the thing and all the news was so outdated that I had to find some more news.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)

I really am digging Cabaret Voltaire’s series of Duty Free gigs (ie, free entry). I think they’re co-sponsored by The List, so fair play to both of them as it really makes me far more likely to take a bit of a chance on something that I might think twice about shelling out a fiver for.

I feel a bit guilty actually, as my friend Morgan has vowed to take me to all sorts of interesting gigs I’d never get to under my own steam and what do I take him to in return? Absolutely stereotypical NME-friendly indie-pop: the sort of stuff that you can hear every minute of every day on XFM, assuming you are so musically apathetic as to be able to bring yourself to tune into that embarrassment of a station to begin with.

That sounds like Operahouse were bad, of course, and that was absolutely not the case. Actually they were really rather good. There wasn’t much audience interaction nor that much rock ‘n’ roll posturing, which may explain why they have yet to build up much in the way of feverish hype. What they had, however, were plenty of good tunes, played with the confidence of a band who bely both their youth and relative inexperience. They aren’t exactly beginners, but they have a very solid, unflappable stage presence that makes them seem like veterans.

If you play music that hits a middle ground between the likes of the Libertines, early Razorlight and late Futureheads then there is so little to digest in terms of new style that the one and only thing that will make you stand out is the hummability of your tunes. New single Born a Boy, first single Man Who Lives Next Door and Machine Palace all deliver in spades on this count and, although these are clearly the best of the tracks, the rest of the set contained plenty of stuff to enjoy.

They may not set the world on fire, but I was quietly impressed and reckon that if they can steer closer to the quality of their best then they could just make a decent career out of this music lark. It’s nothing clever, just good solid indie-pop. The single Born a Boy is really infectious too. I’d love to post it here but that would just be mean, so go out and buy it and enjoy.

Operahouse – The Man Who Lives Next Door
Operahouse – Machine Palace (Demo)
Operahouse – Jarvis

website | myspace | buy single

I’m trying to become just a little bit more relevant to the good people of Edinburgh this year, so I am going to have a go at making this a weekly feature where I pick up on the most appealing looking gigs looming in the capital for the forthcoming week. As it will invariably have mp3s of the bands it should hopefully be useful for the rest of you as well.

Monday 28th January: Operahouse & Endor at Cabaret Voltaire – Free Entry.
Operahouse have a new single, the hugely infectious Born a Boy, out this week so a free gig seems like an excellent chance to check out their excellent bouncy indie-pop.
Endor I don’t know all that well, but I have heard such a lot of good things about them that I am rather looking forward to this.

Operahouse – Machine Palace (Demo)
Endor – Lead Balloons

Wednesday 30th January: Laura Viers at Cabaret Voltaire
I am not a massive Laura Viers fan, but she has done some gorgeous things. I missed her last album but I’m open to persuasion if anyone reckons it’s really worth exploring. I’d be going to this if I had any money left this month. Check out the gorgeous duet on Shadow Blues though – truly exceptional.

Laura Viers – Shadow Blues

Wednesday 31st January: Broken Records & Boyfriend/Girlfriend at The Caves.
This gig is being hosted as part of a club night with DJ sets from Vic Galloway and I Fly Spitfires so it should be brilliant. Tickets aren’t available for sale, so I hope I can get in with my grey hair and qualifications, but I like the sound of Boyfriend/Girlfriend and you all already know how much I love Broken Records. Don’t you?

Broken Records – Lies
Boyfriend/Girlfriend – Fears Of

Saturday 2nd February: Morrissey at the Playhouse
Seriously, I am going to a Mozza gig. I’m not a devoted fan, but I reckon it would be daft to pass up the chance to see a legend live, so thanks to JC at The Vinyl Villain for coming up with a couple of tickets. No idea what I’m going to make of this!

Morrissey – You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side

Sunday 3rd February: Okkervil River at Cabaret Voltaire.
If I wasn’t busy I’d be going to this. I really liked The Stage Names, the album they released last year, although I somehow never quite got round to reviewing it. It’s lovely laid back indie Americana with a little more kick than most.

Okkervil River – Unless It’s Kicks

I’m going to see these lads play live in a few weeks and something tells me I’ll be older than every other member of the audience by at least ten years. Not that being surrounded by achingly cool and eminently squeezable young females is exactly a bad thing, it’s the grubby impression of being a bit of an old pervert that gets to you at the time. That and being looked at like you must be the manager of the place by someone you wouldn’t have shagged back when you were young enough.

Operahouse play a kind of music I waver on considerably – indie pop with plenty of danceyness thrown in. It’s not quite far enough away from those nu-rave clowns The Klaxons and their pointless ilk on one or two occasions, but by and large sticks closer to the kind of bouncey, frantic indie-pop that, when it’s good, can be superb. There are plenty of bands ploughing this furrow, but there’s something significantly more satisfying about Operahouse than many other groups to whom they might be very similar. Perhaps they’re just that little bit poppier: less smack in the middle of a scene I don’t like and more a band that flirt with it because they like a good time.

Their new single is excellent – hugely catchy and plenty of fun – and can be pre-ordered from HMV, here. It’s a cracking good tune and I have duly handed over my sheckles. I’ll be able to tell you more once the single arrives and after I’ve been to the gig, but it all looks quite promising. The carefree indie-popper in me rejoices!

Operahouse – Machine Palace (Demo)
Operahouse – Man Next Door

website | myspace | pre-order single