The Nightcast.  Yes, night.  I am recording this at about two in the morning for the simple reason that for all I aim to do these once a week, on the weekend, once again it has been just plain impossible to actually get the damn thing done on the weekend just gone, so here I am squeezing it into the ungodly hours of Tuesday night.

Well, Wednesday now.

And of course I am off to The Great Escape in the morning.  Actually, it already is the morning.  Oh all right then, by the time this is uploaded and ready to go and I can actually get some sleep, I think I might be due to get out of bed in two hours time.  Cock and balls.  I thought the night time was supposed to be a little more glamorous than this.

Direct download: Toadcast #225 – The Nightcast

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01. The Pictish Trail – Of Course You Exist (FOUND Remix) (00.26)
02. Plastic Animals – Ghosts (07.56)
03. Playlounge – Boner Hit (Keel Her cover) (15.24)
04. Yoofs – Love at 140 (18.17)
05. Dead Rat Orchestra – The Geshin & the Guga (23.15)
06. The See See – Fix Me Up (30.24)
07. Meursault – Flittin’ (36.26)
08. Woody Guthrie – So Long, it’s Been Good to Know You (40.37)
09. PAWS – Misled Youth (46.20)
10. Blank Canvas – Golden (53.53)
11. The Eighteenth Day of May – Cold Early Morning (59.04)

Sometimes I take the wrong message from advertising.

You know those adverts where they hysterically proclaim that there are many more bacteria on your chopping board than there are on your toilet seat?  Well I assume the message they are intending to put across is something like this:

“Aaaagh, ohmyfuckinggod, what have I done, I’ve poisoned my child, I’m a SUCH A BAD MOTHER I MUST BUY MORE OF YOUR CHEMICAL SHITE!”

I, on the other hand, take the message to be this, pretty much:

“Ah well, no need to worry about the toilet seat then.”

But then I don’t think I’m entirely in their target audience, although I could be wrong.

Anyhow, for all there isn’t really all that much going on this week, it does rather annoyingly all seem to be taking place on the same two days at the end of the week.  And once again, I happen to have accidentally ended up putting on a gig at Henry’s at the same time as Pendulum Man puts on a Song, by Toad Records band at the Banshee Labyrinth.  Balls.

Friday 6th April: Edinburgh School For the Deaf, Chris Devotion and the Expectations & Blank Canvas play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.

I haven’t seen Edinburgh School For the Deaf since noise-merchant Kieran Naughton moved down South and the band had to rejig their lineup slightly, so this looks really good.  The whole lineup is strong actually, because CD/EX were fantastic at the Ides of Toad earlier in the year, with an awesome set of boisterous rock ‘n’ roll.  And Blank Canvas I have yet to see at all, despite their generating a good bit of buzz around these parts recently.

Edinburgh School For the Deaf – Love is Terminal

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Friday 6th April: Indie Funday Friday with Cancel the Astronauts, The Cosmonauts, Fishing for Seagulls & Astronaut Head and at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

All the proceeds from this night of pure bouncy indie-pop fun go to Capability Scotland, so as well as fun, you can also reassure yourself that you are making a positive contribution to the world, rather than just going out and getting pished like you normally might on a Friday night.

Cancel the Astronauts – I am the President of Your Fanclub (and Last Night I Followed You Home)

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Saturday 7th April: North American War, Plastic Animals & Palms at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

I’ve been trying to get these two bands through to Edinburgh for a while, and it is finally happening this weekend.  Palms still only have a single song on their Soundcloud page, so I honestly don’t know all that much about them, but North American War’s five song Me and My G.I. Joes EP is really good, and Plastic Animals have been recording recently, so they should be ready to release EP4 into the world relatively soon.  All in all this should be an excellent evening of guitar music which is pretty constantly on the verge of falling to pieces.

Palms – Wolf

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Saturday 7th April: The Japanese War Effort, Ten & Convex Mancave at the Banshee Labyrinth.

For those of you not so very much interested in guitars, across the city on Saturday there will be something altogether more layered and experimental, with Song, by Toad’s favourite buckie-fuelled smart-arse The Japanese War Effort on a bill with Ten and Convex Mancave.  Tickets can be bought here, and come with a free download of a couple of tracks from the bands on the bill.

The Japanese War Effort – Summer Sun Skateboard

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Christ on a bike, is it that time already?  So much to impart and so little time in which to do it!  First up, a raging hangover and an incomplete Toad Session may have prevented me getting my gig listings sorted this week, but there are loads of things happening this weekend which you will enjoy, so I figured I might as well do a quick preview for you now, before the fives and the radio show.

Tonight:
- The Ides of Toad present: The Pineapple Chunk, Brown Brogues and Zed Penguin at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
- Sparrow & the Workshop and Bwani Junction at the National Museum of Scotland.
- Lach and Catherine Brogan doing spoken word performances at Neu Reekie, at the Scottish Book Trust.
- Rod Jones & the Birthday Suit at the Electric Circus.

Tomorrow:
- The Ides of Toad present: Louis Barabbbas & the Bedlam Six, Skeleton Bob and Lee Patterson at the Third Door.
- PAWS, Edinburgh School for the Deaf, Sebastian Dangerfield and Broken Records solo acoustic at the Wee Red Bar.
- Michael Kiwanuka at the Electric Circus (I think this is sold out, but it’s feasible there are tickets on the door if you’re really determined).

Anyhow, as per usual El, Brian and myself will be back on Fresh Air at half three, and this week El is picking the entire playlist so it should actually be some fun to listen to for a change.  There might even be enjoyable music.  And possibly some remixes. In fact, probably some remixes. But I’ll fill in the playlist at the bottom of the page as we go along so

On air from 3:30pm UK time – listen live here.

And in the meantime, Friday is de-lurking day on Song, by Toad of course, so come out of the woodwork and say hello by answering, as frivolously as you please, the following five silly questions:

1. Any festivals you’re looking forward to this year?
2. Suggest a movie mashup of two films you’d like to see combined into one.
3. Give us a good colloquialism you’ve been enjoying recently.
4. If you make a piece of toast for a snack, what do you spread on it?
5. Instead of ‘this vehicle is reversing’ what should we be teaching our vans to say?

Playlist for our Fresh Air radio show this afternoon, as chosen entirely by Miss El Parks.
1. Selector Dub Narcotic – Distorted Cymbals
2. Y’All is Fantasy Island – With Handclaps
3. Dum Dum Girls – Play With Fire
4. El Mato a un Policia Motorizado – Un Million de Euros
5. Louis Barabbas & the Bedlam Six – Away in a Manger
6. Brown Brogues – Don’t Touch My Hair
7. Dead Rabbits – I Think I Know
8. Mount Kimbie – Maybes
9. Bull Moose Jackson – Big Ten Inch Record
10. The Coasters – Down in Mexico
11. Mongrels – Massive C*nt
12. Plastic Animals – Ghosts (Demo)
13. Franz Ferdinand – Lucid Dreams

 Morning.  Fucking brilliantly awesome get tae fuck good fucking morning to you all.  Grrrmpf.  You know those days which start out fucking shite from the very get go and before you answer a single email or deal with a single individual you’re already within a whisker of just telling everyone to piss off because you just can’t be fucking arsed with them?  Yep, one of those I’m afraid.  Hopefully El and Brian will cheer me up on Fresh Air this afternoon.

This is the last show on Fresh Air this entire term, I think, so we’ll be playing a combination of Christmas tat and end-of-year favourites, I believe.  And after that I shall be scuttling off for a much-deserved pint.

On air from 3:30pm UK time – listen live here

In the meantime, after the hugely successful song of the year vote, we are at that time of year, where I ask you to tell us all which albums you have loved the most this year.  I’ll add them up as we go along and on Monday I will announce the winner.

This is of course the perfect opportunity to de-lurk and say hello.  It’s always nice to hear from people I had no idea were reading, and of course our readership is orders of magnitude larger than our commentership* so I am forever wondering who these shadowy thousands are who read the site regularly but hang about in the shadows saying nothing.  Make today the day!

So, simply, just list your five favourite albums, in no particular order, preferably in the format band – album so I can tally them easier, and we’ll see who everyone’s been enjoying the most in 2011.  And the tracklisting for the radio show will appear live below as we go along, once the show starts at half three.

1. Ian Humberstone – The House on the Hill
2. Seth Faergolzia – Weird Old Toad
3. The Leg – Witch on the Speakers
4. Jesus H. Foxx – So Much Water
5. Louis Barabbas & the Bedlam Six – Away in a Manger
6. Meursault – Christmas in Kirkcaldy
7. Warpaint – Billie Holiday
8. Tom Lehrer – A Christmas Carol
9. Yusuf Azak – Swim
10. Plastic Animals – Post-Rapture Blues
11. Trapped Mice – Just Like Christmas (Low cover)
12. Waiters – Tomorrowland
13. Battles – Ice Cream
14. Easter – Damp Patch
15. Hookworms – Teen Dreams
16. Dead Rabbits – All You Need
17. Sons of Joy – Go Tell it on the Mountain

*My sincere apologies to the English language.

 Helloooooo… once again Brian and myself will be gracing, if that’s the right word, the airwaves of Fresh Air Student Radio this afternoon.  We will also be introducing a new member of the team, the lovely and lively El Parks, who you might know from The Electric Circus. And if you don’t, you’ll soon know her from the show.

As per usual, the show will be kicking off at half past three this afternoon, and we will guide you lovingly through the last couple of tedious hours of work, before pub o’clock sweeps in like an avenging angel of inebriational joy to rescue us all from another week in our dingy offices.  Or wherever it is you happen to be foostering about this week.

On air from 3:30om: listen live here.
Or iTunes: Radio – College/University – Fresh Air, The Alternative

In the meantime, it’s de-lurking time on Song, by Toad, as it always is on Friday afternoon.  Those of you who fly by and point an laugh, why not take the chance to fritter away your afternoon answering the following five daft questions.  And then listen to us on the radio, because it will be awesome.

1. Expression or word you use all the time which you wish you could stop using.
2. Thing you wish you could have been the one to discover.
3. One great thing about living hundreds of years ago.
4. And one bad thing.
5. Coffee break routine.

The playlist for the radio show will appear live below as we go along:
1. Zed Penguin
2. PET – What You Building
3. Grandpa Was a Lion – In a Dream
4. Lady North – It’s All About Gettin’ That Claude Monet
5. Weird Era – Summer Heights
6. Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers – Get the Fever Out
7. Plastic Animals – Pirate DVDs
8. Mastodon – Black Tongue
9. Magic Arm – Daft Punk is Playing at My House
10. Luna – Sweet Child O’ Mine
11. Jack Steadman – Beatplate (Remix)
12. PAWS – A Romance in Lower Mathematics

It’s a relatively manageable week, this one.  It’s quiet enough, until Saturday, which has a couple of rather unfortunate clashes, but there are definitely some great gigs on.

Pick of the bunch would, for me, be the Mazes and Milk Maid show at Sneaky’s on Wednesday, but the Emily Scott album launch also looks rather promising, with the presence of extra strings for both herself and Yusuf Azak adding a bit of extra incentive.

Once again I seem to have managed to start the week with a little bit of a hangover, annoyingly, so I have been sitting here feeling groggy all day.  Balls.  Tomorrow will be different, as I keep telling myself.

Wednesday 5th October 2011: Mazes & Milk Maid at Sneaky Pete’s.

Having recorded a (rather fantastic, if I do say so myself) Toad Session with Milk Maid when they played up here in the Spring, I am really looking forward to seeing them again, along with Manchester compatriots and Fatcat label-mates Mazes.

Milk Maid – Not Me (Toad Session)

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Thursday 6th October 2011: Born to Be Wide music video seminar at the Electric Circus.

Born to Be Wide put on consistently interesting seminars designed to help out today’s DIY musician.  This month’s topic is music videos, and confirmed for the panel so far we have this lot: Aman Khullar – VPL, Scott Macdonald – KFM Records, David Weaver – Detour.

Friday 7th October 2011: Indie Funday Friday at Henry’s Cellar Bar with The Asps, Morris Major, Son of Portslade, Steven Borthwick & The Friendly Vibes.

Raising money for the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, this is the second Indie Funday Friday.  Morris Major played the very first Ides of Toad night in January this year, but I have to confess to not knowing all that much about the other bands.  That’s what those links are for of course, so you can decide for yourselves.

Morris Major – Seymour Grove

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Saturday 8th October 2011: Birdhead, Edinburgh School for the Deaf & Plastic Animals play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.

More Limbo jollies, this time with plenty of guitar noise. I will be extremely interested to see what people make of Edinburgh School for the Deaf, now that co-vocalist and guitarist Kieran has moved to London.  The last time I saw them play, he battered his head off the wall at Henry’s and played his guitar so loud his fingers bled. Is it too much to demand that his replacement do at least as much?

Edinburgh School for the Deaf – Love is Terminal

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Saturday 8th October 2011: Emily Scott album launch with Yusuf Azak & Lorraine McCauley at The Third Door.

I believe The Third Door is the venue which used to be Medina, just downstairs from Negociants on Bristo Square. It was never a bad space before, although the PA was horrible, but that is all changing apparently, with a new system, new decor, a new layout and a new name all slowly being sorted out. Both Emily and Yusuf will be playing with added strings, so this should be a lush, gorgeous gig.

Yusuf Azak – The Key Underground

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Saturday 8th October 2011: Papi Falso at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

Papi Falso isn’t a band, nor is it strictly a ‘club night’ per se, although I suppose it cleaves closer to the format of the latter than the former.  It is a bunch of interesting people with good taste in music playing records all evening, simple as that.  There is no obligation to make people dance or sing along, and the general guiding principle is, as far as I know (I’ve been drunk every time I’ve discussed it, sorry), eclecticism. Perfect, in other words, for those of us who love music, want to drink late and fucking hate night clubs.

It’s the Gigpocalypse! Gigmageddon! A gigantic week-long party of musical funz! The final kick in the balls your exhausted, fading liver can’t quite handle before it gives up the ghost and implodes altogether.

After a pretty lacklustre musical showing thus far, the Edinburgh Festival finally earns its spurs this week with what can only be described as the inevitable descent of total and utter carnage.

Lach’s one-man show is back on (after illness) at Cabaret Voltaire, free every night this week at 8:45pm, and of course the Antihoot will be on every night this week except Tuesday from midnight to 3am in the Gilded Balloon.

Then there’s also the next two Toad at the Circus gigs, firstly an acoustic strummer affair, and then on Friday a thumping racket.  I will be DJing at these gigs, but don’t let that put you off, they might still be quite fun.

As well as conventional gigs, Avalanche Records have a full list of really rather excellent in-stores this week too, featuring the likes of Emily Scott and Edinburgh School for the Deaf – full details here. Oh, and of course the week finally stumbles to an alcoholic close with the return of the fantabulous Retreat Festival.  It will be awesome, and my liver will be begging for mercy long before the end.

Tuesday 23rd August 2011: Ulrich Schnauss & Jonnie Common at the Electric Circus.

This will be a carnival of electro loveliness.  I know less about Mr. Schnauss, but Jonnie’s album is pretty damn close to being the best Scottish album of the year, for my money.

Jonnie Common – Summer is For Going Places

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Wednesday 24th August 2011: Neil Pennycook, Benjamin Shaw & John Egdell at the Electric Circus.

It’ll be an all-acoustic affair for our third Toad at the Circus gig.  Apart from Meursault’s Neil Pennycook performing solo, we have the amazing Benjamin Shaw coming up from London and the equally excellent John Egdell from Newcastle.

Benjamin Shaw – 12,000 Sentinels

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Wednesday 24th August 2011: Sebadoh at Cabaret Voltaire.

This is a bit straightforward isn’t it.  Sebadoh are lo-fi indie rock legends (to paint with the broadest of brushes) and they are playing in Edinburgh.  I think this might be sold out though, so there might be little point listing it but umm… it’s Sebadoh, y’know.

Sebadoh – Nothing Like You

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Thursday 25th August 2011: Withered Hand, eagleowl, Woodpigeon (solo) & Meursault (solo) at the Queen’s Hall.

Something of an Edinburgh all-stars gig this one.  If you aren’t from here and want to know why those of us in Edinburgh have been so excited by our homegrown music scene recently, then this and Retreat are the ones to show you.

Withered Hand – Religious Songs

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Thursday 25th August 2011: Willy Mason at Cabaret Voltaire.

Willy Mason has sort of slipped off the critical radar since the pop smash (relatively speaking of course) of Oxygen back in about 2005 or so.  I saw him live back in London before moving up here actually, and it was absolutely brilliant.

Willy Mason – We Can Be Strong

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Friday 26th August 2011: Brown Brogues, Ghost Outfit & Rollor at the Electric Circus.

Let’s see the babbling hen sluts talk over this.  Fuck you, motherfuckers, tonight is going to be loud!  Brown Brogues are a clattering racket and according to The Pigeon Post Ghost Outfit are the best live band in Manchester at the moment.

Brown Brogues – Treet U Beta

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Friday 26th & Saturday 27th August 2011: Lach’s Antihoot Antifolk-off at the Gilded Balloon.

As the Antihoot has been taking place this year Lach and myself have been selecting, with the help of the audience, the favourite act of each night and we’re inviting them all back this weekend, where we’ll be recording the performances to release as The Best of the Antihoot on Song, by Toad Records.  It’ll also be a fantastic way to have a big fuck off party to celebrate the end of an awesome run at this year’s Festival which has, of course, seen me make my stand-up comedy debut.  But the less said about that the better.

Saturday 27th August 2011: The Machine Room, Land of Cakes & Plastic Animals at Sneaky Pete’s.

Continuing the excellence of their Festival booking, Sneaky Pete’s have three excellent new Edinburgh bands on on Saturday.   I’ll be at Retreat, but if it happens to sell out then this looks like an excellent alternative.

The Machine Room – Your Head on the Floor Next Door

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Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th August 2011: Retreat Festival at Pilrig St. Paul’s church.

There are a couple of events which define my musical calendar.  Most Fence events would pretty much be included in there, and the other would be Retreat.  The best bands in Edinburgh, fucking lovely people and the nicest atmosphere at any music even I’ve been to in the city.  Bart Owl is a hero. A sarcastic, ginger hero.

 Well after an extremely successful Ides of Toad on Saturday (a massive thanks to the excellent bands, and to the fucking loads of people who came along) I think this week I shall be putting my feet up and letting other people do the work for a bit.

And what a fuck of a lot of work they’ve been doing, too, because this week is a bit mental in terms of excellent gigs at which to drink yourself into an early grave. So much for the pre-Festival wind-down I discussed last week.

As well as having their album launch this week, Kid Canaveral are coming round to our house to record a Toad Session and get some beers down them, so umm… well, don’t expect me to be much use to anyone on Thursday, s’all I’m saying.

And from a gig-going perspective, well, Friday looks like a bit of a challenge, eh.

Thursday 21st July 2011: Sara Lowes & the Easy Tigers at the Electric Circus.

Sara Lowes is a sometime member of the Earlies and has played on some of my favourite albums of all time, by the likes of King Creosote and Micah P. Hinson.  In her solo guise she makes extremely pretty pop songs, and her new album is absolutely lush.

Sara Lowes – Night Times

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Bronto Skylift, PAWS & A Fight You Can’t Win at Sneaky Pete’s.

If, on the other hand, you want to end Thursday with bleeding ears then I recommend this one.  Bronto Skylift can head a bit too far in the direction of freeform noise for me, I have to confess, and I know next to nothing about the openers, but any chance to see PAWS should be taken, because they’re fucking great.

PAWS – Ariel

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Friday 22nd July 2011: Live Lounge at the Electric Circus with Lach, The Pineapple Chunks and Randan Discotheque.

The Pineapple Chunks have kindly agreed to let us host their album launch during the Festival, and this will be a wee preview for you, as well as being the first full gig outing for Lach on his return to Edinburgh in anticipation of the return of both his one-man show and the Antihoot to the Edinburgh Festival.

Lach – Break the Day

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Friday 22nd July 2011: Plastic Animals, Black International, Supermarionation (solo) & Loch Awe (solo) at the Wee Red Bar.

This event marks the launch of Fresh Air’s Inside Track 2011 charity album (last year’s can be downloaded here),

Plastic Animals – It Fell Apart

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Friday 22nd July 2011: The Just Joans, We See Lights & The Occasional Flickers at The Bristo Hall.

This is an Unpop night I believe, and they’ve assembled a bill of some of the finest indiepop around.  I haven’t heard much out of the Just Joans for a while actually, but when their skewed, cobbled together guitar pop and first rate lyrics really are an excellent combination.

The Just Joans – Hey Boy… You’re Oh So Sensitive

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Saturday 23rd July 2011: Kid Canaveral album launch at Avalanche Records.

I need say no more about Kid Canaveral on these pages, surely?  Indiepop.  Awesome.  Some wonderfully sad moments.  Brilliant fun live.

Kid Canaveral – Stretching the Line

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Saturday 23rd July 2011: Enfant Bastard, Moustache of Insanity & River of Slime at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

And finally we come to Enfant Bastard’s final Edinburgh gig for the foreseeable future.  Cammy is moving to Sweden, and will be supported at his farewell show by Moustache of Insanity and FOUND’s beepmaster general Kev Sim, under the name of River of Slime.

Enfant Bastard – Demo Scene

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Most live scenes tend to peter out a little from late June/early July onwards as the Festival season starts to cannibalise what remains of the audience after the students have gone home, and people tend to take what little chance they get to be outside in the sun, if it ever appears, rather than in a sweaty basement listening to pale young men complaining about their feelings.

The Edinburgh live scene, on the other hand, tends not to be as dependent on students, not to have to fear too much from oft promised but never delivered good weather, but nevertheless to peter out for a different reason: the lumbering behemoth that is the Edinburgh Festival.

Now I don’t hate the Festival as much as a lot of locals, but I am nevertheless a little ambivalent.  Yes it’s awesome, yes it brings all sorts of cool stuff to the city for a month, but there are obviously some drawbacks.

Firstly, the practical.  If you are ever trying to get anything done in August, it’s a fucking nightmare.  People and shit everywhere, and everyone making the smug plea of those with nothing pressing to get done: ‘Just chill out man, it’s the festival dude, we’re on vaykayshun, relaaaax!’  No. It is Tuesday, and I have shit to do.  Get the fuck out of my way before I make you massively grateful for the Communist oppression of a functioning National Health Service.

Secondly, local music really does just have to stop.  There is no point a Scottish label or band releasing anything in August, as the local press simply haven’t a sliver of column space to devote to it.  Also, gigs tend to stop as well, because the Edge Festival won’t let any local bands they book play at all, anywhere else in August, venues are near-impossible to come by, local fans often turn their eyes and wallets to the more exotic imports and advertising against the maelstrom of confetti generated by the Festival is basically impossible.

Did I mention that I’m putting on four gigs at the Electric Circus in August?  What a dick.

Anyhow, Acoustic Edinburgh and The Retreat Festival have been brilliant over the last few years, and Electric Circus are following their lead this year: booking lots of local stuff and offering amazingly good deals on drinks too, so we can all afford to actually go.

This week, however, due to what I assume is pre-Festival wind-down, there is really not that much, except for the ever-reliable awesomeness of The Ides of Toad.  Yes, really, for once I am not joking.

Tuesday 12th July 2011: Out of the Bedroom at the Montague Bar.

Of the (admittedly relatively few) open mics I’ve attended in Edinburgh, Out of the Bedroom has been my favourite, and this week Lach will be playing.  Lach is the man who invented Antifolk and whose Antihoot open stage in New York launched the careers of the like of Beck, Jeffrey Lewis and Kimya Dawson.  He is moving to Edinburgh and releasing an album with us in a week or so (which should absolutely delight some people).

Lach – Stunned

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Thursday 14th July 2011: Papi Falso at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

This isn’t a gig, and I’m not sure I could even call it a club night really, more a late night drinking opportunity where some distinctly odd and distinctly excellent people will play distinctly odd and distinctly excellent music.  I wanted a night like this all through my twenties and have had to wait until I am thirty fucking five to actually find it.

Friday 15th July 2011: The Deadly Winters, Plastic Animals & The Oates Field at The Electric Circus.

Since Tallah and JP took over the booking at the Electric Circus they have really started to book some good stuff, including Live Lounge, which seems to be a lineup of good live music every Friday.  I don’t know the Deadly Winters, I have to confess, but the other two bands are very good indeed.

The Oates Field – Nae Luck (Jonnie Common’s Deskjob version)

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Saturday 16th July 2011: The Ides of Toad present Jesus H. Foxx, The Second Hand Marching Band and Pet at The Wee Red Bar.

Jesus H. Foxx have finished their album!  Yes, finished their fucking album, I kid you not!  This means that they will be out and about playing an awful lot more from now on, and that singles will be starting to appear in the Autumn.  Get in!  It sounds fucking great, too.  Add to this the beast that is The Second Hand Marching Band, and brand new Edinburgh popsters Pet and we have a great wee lineup for you.  Better get down early though, because there’s so many musicians in these bloody bands that they could end up pretty much filling the venue by themselves!

The Second Hand Marching Band – Paper Year (Demo)

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One thing about going away on holiday is that I seem to have lost all grip on my Facebook invites.  And whilst I know that Facebook invites have become just another form of tedious spam for most of you, for me they are still a pretty handy way of staying on top of the week’s gigging activities.

The week’s gigging activites are relatively thin on the ground this week, however.  There is, of course, the BBC Scotland SXSW documentary tomorrow at 9pm.  There is plenty of Withered Hand, Kid Canaveral, Rachel Sermanni and Unicorn Kid to go around, as well as the likes of Vic Galloway, the Twilight Sad and of course my good self.  My parents will be watching and will no doubt very proud.  Or at least, hopefully a little less ashamed than usual.

As well as that there are a couple of gigs on, and the return of Born to Be Wide, whose sync panel takes place on Thursday.

Thursday 7th July 2011: Born to Be Wide Sync Panel at the Electric Circus.

Sync deals in adverts and TV shows are probably one of the few ways left for bands to make grown-up money in the modern music industry, but as a consequence, there are now a fuck of a lot of people rather greedily eyeing that money.  Giving us some advice on pinching a little for ourselves will be: Gerry Farrell (creative director of the Leith Agency), David Harron (Executive producer at BBC Scotland), Caroline Gorman (Rage Music), David McGinnis (A&R and head of licensing at Mute Song).

Thursday 7th July 2011: Alex Cornish at The Caves.

Alex starts his UK tour this week, and anyone who saw his amazing performance at the recent Song, by Toad house gig will presumably be up for this one, performed with a full band at Edinburgh’s snazziest venue.

Friday 8th July 2011: Plastic Animals Dark Spring EP launch with Trapped Mice & Yusuf Azak at The Wee Red Bar.

I first came across Plastic Animals only recently, but they were excellent supporting Milk Maid and PAWS at Henry’s a while back, and they have a new EP to promote as well, which you can buy here. It will also be a pleasure to see Yusuf Azak back in Edinburgh as well – he has a new album recorded and it’s bloody brilliant.

Plastic Animals – It Fell Apart

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