This week I am piling on the music snobbery.  Oh, okay, I’m not really – if anything I’m undermining it with some truly guilty pleasures.  There’s not much modern fluffy pop music which I happen to enjoy despite my snobbery because… well, because I just don’t think there’s anything I can think of which fits that bill at the moment.

I know nostalgic guilty pleasures and truly embracing low-brow music purely for the enjoyment of it aren’t quite the same thing but I think I’ve budged about as far as I am going to go on this one.  Girls Aloud are unlikely to ever make an appearance on this podcast, but there’s a spot of memory-tickling being indulged in with picks from Kylie and Guns ‘n’ Roses.  You can tell Mrs. Toad has been involved in choosing a playlist when it contains Guns and fucking Roses, but she was sacked from co-presenting duties due to excessive drunkenness, so her imprint on this particular episode is in selections only, and not in the presence of her dulcet tones on the interwaves.

Toadcast #70 – The Snobcast

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01. Kid Canaveral – Couldn’t Dance (03.52)
02. Popup – Lucy, What Are You Trying to Say (07.04)
03. Art Fag – Nakhla Dog (15.48)
04. Kylie Minogue – Confide In Me (23.27)
05. Motorhead – Ace of Spades (28.50)
06. The Seventeenth Century – Mid October (36.16)
07. Alan Pownall – The Others (43.56)
08. Haggard the Listener Group – Blackette (47.29)
09. Soft Cell – Tainted Love (51.22)
10. Guns ‘n’ Roses – Sweet Child o’ Mine (58.12)

It’s that time of the week once again.  At 6.30pm, British Summer Time, myself and Dylan from Blueback Hotrod will be live on Fresh Air, Edinburgh’s student radio station.  There will be no theme, no coherence and no real attempt to do anything more dynamic than just chatter about music, so please do tune in and listen to us blether.

Rather than emailing or (grrr) tweeting, I thought I might just leave this as an open thread for those who want to contribute, and I’ll add the playlist live as we go along.

Click the big ‘Listen Live’ button on this page to tune in, between 6.30pm and 8pm tonight.

01. The Bluetones – Glad to See You Back Again
02. James – Sound
03. Emily Scott – Pageant Queen
04. Frightened Rabbit – Old Old Fashioned (Live)
05. Kid Canaveral – Teenage Fanclub Song
06. Popup – Lucy, What are You Trying to Say?
07. Blur w. Francoise Hardy – To the End
08. Gene – Dolce & Gabanna or Nowt
09. Meursault – Hard On (Charles Latham Cover)
10. Charles Latham – Nite Man
11. Withered Hand – Religious Songs
12. Boo Radleys – Almost Nearly There
13. White Antelope – Silver Dagger
14. Cancel the Astronauts – I am the President of Your Fanclub and Last Night I Followed You Home

Cheers, see you next week at the same time.

Christ almighty, it’s fucking busy this week. So I guess I’ll start by listing the three famousy gigs which I will not be attending, just to get them out of the way nice and early. Firstly, I will not be going to see Martha Wainright at the Picturehouse on Wednesday because, frankly, I find her rather annoying, despite expecting to like her music. I expected to like it, I just didn’t. I also won’t be going to see Mogwai at the Corn Exchange on Tuesday because despite their legendary status, I think they’re shit. Thirdly, I won’t be going to see Noah & the Whale play The Liquid Rooms on Sunday either, because I can’t be arsed. That’s three hours of my life I’d never be able to get back.

Interestingly, Razorlight have just announced a brand new ‘intimate’ tour of the UK. Quite in whose deranged fantasy places like the Edinburgh Corn Exchange qualify as being intimate is beyond me – the place is like a run-down fucking aircraft hanger. Idiots.

So, yes, the gigs I will be attending this week. Well, not all of them, but the ones I would actually recommend, and might attend if I had infinite amounts of time and money.

Tuesday 21st October 2008: Action Group, Come On Gang & HOMEwork at the Ark.
A good value lineup at the shittest venue in the city. I haven’t seen Come On Gang for a while actually, and it’s about time I went along again, assuming my recently returned lady friend will permit it of course.
Action Group – Crime & Punishment

Thursday 23rd October 2008: Popup & Isosceles play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.
Pure indiepop this week at Limbo. I don’t need to tell you much more about Isosceles’ spiky, enjoyable, synthy indie, and Popup are currently promoting their debut album, so this should be a most entertaining evening.
Isosceles – This Is Where It Ends

Friday 24th October 2008: Los Campesinos & Copy Haho play a Tennent’s Mutual gig at Cabaret Voltaire.
Los Campesinos are my friend Matt’s favourite band. Personally I quite like what I hear, but I know little enough about them to still be in the curiosity stage. What I have heard of them I’ve rather enjoyed though, so this would appear to be a good chance to find out a bit more.
Los Campesinos! – Death to Los Campesinos!

Saturday 25th October 2008: The Week That Was & Eagleowl at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
Field Music’s Pete Brewis has another project, and it is The Week That Was. That’s pretty interesting to begin with, but supporting them will be local favourites Eagleowl, despite Findo Gask being on the listing. So this could be rather good value for your six quid.
The Week That Was – Scratch the Surface

Saturday 25th October 2008: Seasick Steve at the Queen’s Hall.
Quite why everyone has suddenly decided that some old blues musician is the trendiest thing since sliced bread is sort of beyond me, I have to confess. I like his brand of blues, don’t get me wrong, but quite why him rather than anyone else seems baffling. Mind you, he does look like the reason the word ‘grizzled’ was invented, so maybe that has something to do with it.
Seasick Steve – St. Louis Slim

Saturday 25th October: The Hurricanes at Cabaret Voltaire.
I don’t know much about the Hurricanes at all, because they only have one song on their MySpace player, along with a remix of said song. It’s a good song though, so I am curious to find out more.
The Hurricanes – Down Below

Well it’s August, it’s the much-vaunted Edinburgh Festival and there’s… well, frankly, fuck all on as far as I can tell. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the Retreat Festival I would be officially christening this the Shittest August in History in terms of Edinburgh gigs.

The tail end of last week, with Eagleowl, Broken Records, Johnny Flynn, Sparrow & the Workshop and Noah & the Whale, was pretty much the pinnacle of the Festival calendar as far as I can tell, and my stinking hangover is largely the result of enjoying it all just a little bit too much.

So what is there for you all to enjoy this week? Not much until late in the week actually, which is enormously good news for my liver, and also pretty good for the video editing and Toad Sessions I have to get done.

Wednesday 20th August 2008: Ziggy Campbell & Little Pebble play the Retreat Festival at the Scottish Scullery.
Both of these lads are probably better know as the front men for their respective band, Found and Come In Tokyo, so I actually have little idea what to expect from their solo shows. I’ve been meaning to see Ziggy in particular for some time now, so I am rather looking forward to Wednesday.
Little Pebble – Nae Luck (Jonnie Common Remix)

Thursday 21st August 2008: Popup, Kartta & Tie For Jack at the Voodoo Rooms.
Popup are pure indie pop, and their first couple of songs were really rather good. They have a new album out on Art Goes Pop (excellent label) pretty soon, and I haven’t seen them for nearly a year, so this will be a great chance to have a listen to the new stuff, before I get stuck into the album.
Popup – A Year in a Comprehensive

Friday 22nd August 2008: Club Welto at the Voodoo Rooms, featuring Meursault, Randan Discotheque and various others.
This is a really interesting looking night actually, billed as a combination of music and spoken word. I always like it when promoters try and go beyond just slapping on some bands and getting people pished, so this kind of thing looks really promising. The bands themselves are really good, so if the rest of it is at the same level, then it should be a great night.
Randan Discotheque – I’d Like to be Alone

Saturday 23rd August 2008: My Kappa Roots & Royal Edinburgh Music play the Retreat Festival at the Scottish Scullery.
I find myself thinking that My Kappa Roots have been out of the loop for a little while, but maybe that’s just my perception. He has a new album out and about though, which indicates activity. Anyhow, this is the first time I am going to see him, despite that fact that I’ve been hearing about the guy for over a year. More fool me, I think.
My Kappa Roots – A Golden Age

Sunday 24th August 2008: Meursault & John Edgell play the Retreat Festival at the Scottish Scullery.
We should all know how brilliant Meursault combination of swirling electronics and percussive uke is by now, but I can’t even find a MySpace page for that Edgell character – mmm, intriguing!
Meursault – A Few Kind Words

Sorry for missing these two little nuggets out the first time, folks, but there’s some interesting stuff going on this weekend that I (and Bart – hahahahhahahaaaa… fuck you!) missed the first time round.  Both gigs are on Saturday, so it’s going to be a fucking busy one.

The first is a bit straighforward:
Saturday 21st June 2008: Popup are playing Medina.
They’ll also bring some pre-release copies of their debut album with them for sneaky purchasers, should you be so inclined.  I don’t know much about Popup really, but they have some cracking indie-pop tunes and the one time I saw them live they were superb, so definitely a good one this, although I’ve never been to Medina so I’ve no idea what it’s like a a venue.
Popup – Lucy, What Are You Trying to Say?

This one is downright bizarre:
Saturday 21st June 2008: Found & a Shanghai Jazz Band in the Temperate Palm House at the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens.
Erm, well what the fuck can I possibly say about this?  I think I’ll be going out of sheer perverse curiosity.  The Botanics is just down the road from Toad Hall, and myself and Mrs. Toad wander about in there quite a lot when we find ourselves with a free afternoon.  Quite what the musical offerings are going to be is anyone’s guess, but Found are a superb band and I reckon I am going to give it a go.  A Shanghai Jazz Band?  The mind boggles.
Found – Mullokian

Back at long last, would you believe. After the abortive attempt at a Christmas podcast and then the IT disaster in Toad Hall – when my retarded computer ground to a halt and had to have its entire operating system reinstalled – I have finally managed to record the 19th Toadcast. Sorting out the IT department was not at all as easy as it should have been, so it’s taken ages to get to the point where I could record one again.

So, excuses over and done with, what am I going to inflict on you this time? The bloody Scots, that’s who. The Scottish music scene is an amazingly fertile one, so I thought I’d review 2007 and have a bit of a look forward to 2008. So I’ve pulled together some of the big guys like Malcolm Middleton, Emma Pollock and King Creosote and interspersed a few of the lesser known acts from around here to give you a nicely rounded look at what’s going on musically in the land of Buckfast and deep-fried Mars bars.

Toadcast #19 – The Scotchcast[audio http://media.libsyn.com/media/songbytoad/ToadcastNo19.mp3]

01. Sons & Daughters – Gilt Complex (1.01)
02. Glasvegas – Daddy’s Gone (5.55)
03. The Low Miffs – Also Sprach Shareholder (13.58)
04. Malcolm Middleton – We’re All Going to Die (17.24)
05. Aidan John Moffat – The Boy That You Love (23.37)
06. Gerry Mitchell & Little Sparta – The Empress (28.00)
07. The Pendulums – Greenhat (34.38)
08. Broken Records – Kathy (40.49)
09. Rob St. John – Wooden Rose (45.44)
10. Found – Some Fracas of a Sissy (53.28)
11. Kid Canaveral – Smash Hits (58.49)
12. Popup – Lucy, What are You Trying to Say? (61.38)
13. Emma Pollock – A Temporary Fix (68.28)
14. King Creosote – Church as Witness (76.04)
15. Mother & the Addicts – Roll Me on Over (79.37)
16. Frightened Rabbit – Be Less Rude (88.09)
17. The Twilight Sad – Walking For Two Hours (94.37)

Ah, talk about a sweaty, drunken night of indie joy. Fucking marvellous. This absolutely brilliant lineup was presented by Jim Gellatly of XFM Scotland, and was every bit as good as I wish the T Break gig had been, despite the thick, men’s changing room aroma of a sweltering Bannerman’s. It was a brilliant evening though, with Rory and Gill from Broken Records and David from Kid Canaveral all coming along to check out the rather elusive Twilight Sad as well.

Mouse Eat Mouse - These lads are mental. Old school rhythms with sax and everything give a sort of ska-punk backing to the deranged stream of consciousness of frontman CD Shade. Genuinely an experience!

website | myspace | Mouse Eat Mouse – Tuim Tattie[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/MouseEatMouse-TuimTattie.mp3]

Dumb Instrument - I first heard about Dumb Instrument from Colin, who writes the wonderful And Before the First Kiss, when he posted their phenomenal track Reverse the Hearse, from debut single Songs, Ya Bass Vol. 1 but I somehow failed to quite guess what they would really be like. A duo in this case, with Alex Walsh-Todd [Edit: it was Mikey Grant actually - sorry] on keyboards and the remarkable Tom Murray on vocals. He looked a bit like a dapper version of George Clooney in Syriana, and produced an inexhaustible stream of wry, snappy Scottish poetry which glided perfectly over the top of Grant’s meandering piano, flavouring it occasionally with a little harmonica. I was quite looking forward to seeing them, completely surprised by what I saw, and yet completely taken with their performance. Keep an eye out for this lot.

website | myspace | Dumb Instrument – Reverse the Hearse[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/DumbInstrument-ReversetheHearse.mp3]

Popup - Quite how the fucking View are famous and this lot aren’t is beyond me. I may not love every song they’ve ever done, but they can bloody well write a tune. They are better than the Good Shoes/Books/whatever, better than The Wombats, and better than a host of other indie-pop disappointments whose pictures adorn the walls of the NME offices, covered in spunk from the feverish masturbation over their imagined genius. The lads write good songs, are excellent live and can actually bloody play. What more can you possibly want from cheery, dancy indie-pop?

Popup – Lucy, What Are You Trying to Say?
Popup – A Year in a Comprehensive

website | myspace

The Twilight Sad - A while ago I wrote a review of Viva Stereo and Mike from Manic Pop Thrills popped over to “confirm that they do indeed rock like bastards”, which has ever since been one of my favourite expressions to describe exactly this sort of gig.

Far more popular in the States, for some reason, than they are over here The Twilight Sad make a ferocious noise when they get going, and James Graham’s impassioned howl is absolutely spell-binding. Honestly, he looks like he’s experiencing some sort of demonic possession as he faces stage left, gazing at the ceiling and lets forth a torrent of Scottish rage. He’s not a talker, apart from half-apologising for not being a talker, but the spectacle of the music as it washes over him in spasms is quite amazing.

Whilst Mark Devine on drums looks like he’s performing a feat of athletic endurance, guitarist Andy MacFarlane rivals only the rather lovely Mia Clarke from Electrelane in terms of looking entirely nonchalant whilst creating an absolutlely phenomenal wall of noise. They both have their eyes closed half the time, and seem to channel their particular brand of cacophonous racket from a place far beyond the stage. Add to that the casual indifference – he could almost be reading the Sunday papers – of bass guitarist Craig Orzel and you have a rather weird but nevertheless wonderful spectacle.

As MacFarlane generates more and more terrifying barrages of guitar onslaught, descending occasionally into a faintly intimidating hum, almost like the sound of an enormous engine ticking over, before cutting loose with venom once more, Graham’s utterly gripping voice takes an absolutely vice-like grip of your heart and the four of them proceed to put you through the mill almost as powerful as that which Graham himself seems to endure.

They do indeed rock like bastards.

The Twilight Sad – That Summer at Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy
The Twilight Sad – Cold Days From the Birdhouse

website | myspace | amazon