I feel really weird this morning.  Partly I am whizzed off my tits on painkillers, which at least makes the back pain manageable, and partly I took the advice from this thread a little too seriously last night.  Ouch.  Pills, Caol Ila and Ardbeg: not a winning combination by the time the morning after comes around.

So there’s no chat this week, you’ll be pleased to know.  Here are some gigs.  Go to them.  But good luck picking what to do on Wednesday, because I’ve no fucking idea myself.

Wednesday 23rd September 2009: David Thomas Broughton and several other chaps at Sneaky Pete’s.

Actually David Thomas Broughton is being supported by Debutant, Twi the Humble Feather and Ross Clark, I just liked the phrasing of that little place marker, so I left it in.  ‘Several other chaps’ – spendid.  See, I told you the pills were working.  Anyhow, David Thomas Broughton is mental and brilliant.  He has a black belt in the use of loop pedals, a gorgeous voice and a strange knack for peculiar physical theatre to accompany his musical performances.  He’s sufficiently eccentric, actually, that he is a good one for sorting the men from the boys because a lot of people really don’t like David Thomas Broughton.  These people are wrong, it is as simple as that.

Wednesday 23rd September 2009: Withered Hand Album Launch at the Leith Dockers’ Club, with special guests.

You know I like this album, don’t you?  You also know I have an awful lot of time for Dan, don’t you.  And I’ve not read a bad review for the record anywhere – not even a merely lukewarm one.  So expect a big old hairy metal-hippie love-in at one of Edinburgh’s more idiosyncratic venue choices.  I would tell you who the Very Special Guest is, but I am not allowed.  You’ll just have to keep your Ear Against the Wireless.

Withered Hand – Cornflake (Demo)

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Wednesday 23rd September 2009 (or Thursday): Jesus H. Foxx & the Pineapple Chunks at the Wee Red Bar.

The Wee Red website seems to think this is on Thursday 24th, whereas I am pretty sure the bands think it’s on the 23rd.  I don’t know – personally I would go along on Wednesday if I were you because the venue is there all week and it’s probably best to turn up when the bands are actually intending to play.  Besides, at least if you go on Wednesday and you’re wrong, there’s time to put it right.  There will be lots of guitars and drums at this gig,

Friday 25th September 2009: Julie Doiron, Construction & Destruction and Former Utopia at the Bowery.

Julie Doiron is folky, quiet, French Canadian and stuff like that.

Saturday 26th September 2009: Occasional Flickers, French Wives & Cancel the Astronauts at Sneaky Pete’s.

The Occasional Flickers are probably best and most lazily described as pleasant twee-pop.  Which is nice.  My head hurts too much to write anything more about this.

The Occasional Flickers – A Medal Won in ’84

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Saturday 26th September 2009: The Low Miffs & Malcolm Ross at Cabaret Voltaire.

The Low Miffs are a fucking great live band, and their album is excellent.  It’s art rock, to a degree, old school indie to a degree and camp as tits in some senses.  I’ll be here with bells on, depending on certain potential Manchester-based excusions.

The Low Miffs & Malcolm Ross – Cressida

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Sunday 27th September 2009: Strike the Colours & Zoey Van Goey at Electric Circus.

Zoey Van Goey are another band I have inexplicably yet to see, for no really obvious reason.  They have an album out and an increasing national profile, so I really should get my shit together and check them out.  Strike the Colours is the vehicle for Malcolm Middleton’s fiddle player, and a band I kind of like, but perhaps no more than that.

Strike the Colours – Strangernight

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Greetings my Summery flock of Toads, how are we all doing this fine morning?  Or afternoon of course, depending on where you might be located.

I was advised once by Johnny Pictish not to put on gigs during July or August because getting people out to them was a near-impossibility.  I don’t know if this is just Edinburgh or if it applies universally, but certainly the promoters of this fair city seem to have taken it heart because there is really is sweet Fanny Adams happening in the next couple of weeks on the live circuit.

Maybe people are gearing up for the Festival.  It wouldn’t surprise me because after last year’s programme being thinner than a model’s forearms this year’s August schedule is shaping up to be extremely good indeed.  We’ve got Retreat back (only for a day this time, unfortunately) and Trampoline‘s Festival lineups are looking really rather excellent too.

It has to be said, as well, and despite my general tendency to bash corporate enterprise and side shamelessly with the DIY, the ramshackle and the home-grown, that the lineup for this year’s Edge Festival is also looking rather good.  After scrapping the generally excellent T on the Fringe, they seemed to have some pretty significant teething problems with the rebranded (but essentially identical, as far as I could tell) product last year, but there are some terrific bands booked for this year, so August promises to be utterly exhausting, but in a very good way indeed.

So what is there actually going on this week?  Well here’s about the best that I could find, but please have a scan through the comments because if I’ve missed anything then someone’s bound to point out the error of my ways.

Wednesday 22nd July 2009: Be a Familar & Tango in the Attic at the Electric Circus.

I have to confess that I am not entirely convinced by Be a Familiar, but they seem to be generating a good vibe about the place and picking up quite a lot of interest.  A pleasant evening of somewhat twee guitar-pop beckons.

Friday 24th July 2009: Found (well, Ziggy and Kev) & Dead Boy Robotics at Sneaky Pete’s.

After playing a stripped down set at the Toad Night on Saturday Found are at it again, this time performing with just Ziggy and Kev, and if Saturday is anything to go by it should be brilliant.  Dead Boy Robotics new stuff is apparently a bit less techno than previous, and apparently this is a good thing, so it should be very interesting to see what they’re up to.
Found – Turnstile

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Sunday 26th July 2009: The Shipping Forecast Garden Party at the Peartree with Ross Clark, Mitchell Museum, Little Pebble and Randan Discotheque.

A pleasant afternoon spent in a pub beer garden with lots of great music – if I weren’t going to be at Wickerman this weekend I’d be at this thing without a second thought because it looks brilliant – say a little prayer for good weather.  There’s a good mix of pop and acoustic and Little Pebble is one of the most underrated performers in Edinburgh if you ask me.
Mitchell Museum – Exciting But Drunk

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[I was unfortunately too busy to attend this gig myself because I was at home compiling endless lists of bloggers to pester with promo copies of new Edinburgh releases, but Dylan was able to attend and has kindly written this review. Apart from making dubious comments about Rod Stewart's gentleman's equipment, Dylan is also the drummer in Uhersky Brod and the offical photographer of the Toad Sessions, and it's really nice of him to volunteer to write this review. Enjoy...]

Regrettably, I missed Ross Clark. I blame Lothian Buses and an hour-and-a-half bus journey home from work. As a result, I walked into Cabaret Voltaire just as Ross thrashed his triumphant final chord and swung his acoustic guitar into the air. But – wow – what a chord that one was!

So, for me, the evening’s entertainment really began with Barn Owl. I don’t know why all the young kids since the Arctic Monkeys have started strapping their guitars right up high into their armpits; I suspect it has something to do with learning to play while sitting down, but if any of them are reading: Guys, it just doesn’t look cool!

Anyway, as Barn Owl, securely harnessed by their guitar straps, launched into their opening number, it was soon apparent that we were on familiar territory. They practice an earnest variety of late 80s style baggy that will inevitably draw comparisons with early Charlatans and the first Stone Roses album, with the standard hints of New Order and Echo and the Bunnymen thrown in.

I must admit that Barn Owl didn’t really grab me at first, but after a hesitant start, they seemed to settle into something of a groove. They have an undeniable knack for a pleasing tune, and often embarked on extended instrumental passages to give those tunes room to breathe and develop. It’s an unusually unrestrained approach for practitioners of this style of music at the moment, and I found myself re-assessing the pigeon-hole I’d put them in earlier.

Barn Owl aren’t currently about pushing boundaries, but a lot of people will be happy with their unashamedly approachable style. As they grow in confidence and develop their identity, they could make a lot of friends.

Barn Owl MySpace | Barn Owl – Chasing Little Sparks

There was a switch at the top of the bill as The Kays Lavelle took to the stage ahead of Meursault. Or at least three members of The Kays Lavelle; unexpected personnel issues forcing them to perform with a stripped-down piano-guitar-drums approach.

This was my first Kays Lavelle gig, so I don’t have much of a frame of reference, but the sparsely furnished sound suited the introspective lyrics and haunted vocals. Bart seemed to be having a high old time squeezing spooky science-fiction noises out of his Fender and adding unexpected sound effects to Euan’s vocals, while the exploratory chords and refrains of the piano dovetailed nicely with Grant’s complex percussion patterns.

I think it’s fair to say The Kays Lavelle will have better shows than this, but they can walk away from this one confident that the band’s music and personnel are adaptable, and that, even on nights when everything’s not going their way, they can still play to the crowd and put on a show. To me, that sounds like a handy skill any decent band could be proud of.

The Kays Lavelle MySpace | The Kays Lavelle – The Chemistry Between

So following that, Meursault got the headline slot by default, and certainly made the most of it. On percussion, Fraser was visibly wilting under the hot stage lights for the first track or two. Until, from the back of the room someone delivered his trademark porkpie hat to the stage and, with an instant and almost magical effect, the little hat brought him back to life. This in turn allowed him to reinvigorate Meursault’s sound with the astonishing range of noise he gets from the cajón upon which he sits and the shakers he straps to every appendage.

Neil responded to the resurrection of his drummer by ratcheting-up the intensity of his own performance, his voice ranging between a plaintive croak and a maniacal howl often within a single phrase. As a frontman, Neil Pennycook cuts an arresting and imposing figure, the performance of his passionate and emotional songs forcing him to writhe around the stage as if possessed by a particularly sadist demon. It’s a gripping and mesmerising spectacle, and completely at odds with the delightfully affable gent he is offstage.

Meursault’s sound; with the acoustic guitar often taking a background role behind a heartbeat of incessant banjo arpeggios, explosive percussion noises and startling vocals, is striking and unorthodox, but it seems to possess a primal attraction that sees them picking up more and more devotees with each performance.

Meursault MySpace | Meursault – A Few Kind Words