It’s not quite so mental this week on Edinburgh’s live circuit. There are quite a few interesting gigs, but not all that many unmissable ones, so I think it might be easier to pick and choose a couple without overburdening yourself. Last week’s strategy of driving to gigs in order to prevent excessive alcohol consumption proved extremely successful (until the weekend, but then the weekend is supposed to be for fun so bugger off, besides, it’s not every day your label has an EP launch party) so I might just continue it this week. In any case, I have three five-a-side football games this week, so it may just be necessary anyway, whatever I personally may wish to do.
Jeremy Jay is a K Records star, a label give considerable love by Ruth from the Bowery when she made an appearance on the Toadcast a couple of weeks ago. Ian from Tisso Lake has a gorgeous voice and a lovely guitar sound and while I haven’t seen him with a full band before, he is rather Rob St. Johnish (*sniff, bye Rob) when he plays solo. The Colourful Band are from Leith and while their recorded material can seem a little lacking in real conviction, there is definitely a lot of potential there, so I will be very interested to see them live to get a better idea of what they are really like as a band.
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Tuesday 15th September 2009: Brook Pridemore at the Forest Cafe.
[This has shifted to the Forest Cafe from the Bowery] Anyone who saw Dan Costello at the Bowery last Monday will know that Brook is his drummer, and will be breathlessly waiting for him to sing Breakup Song for Brook Pridemore to Sing, written by Mr. Costello with the fairly obvious intention that it be sung by erm… yes, Gary Barlow, that was it. Apart from that, I have little idea what to expect, but if he plays with anything like as light a touch and generous-spirited a nature as Costello himself then this will be a really enjoyable night.
[Edit: due to the cancellation of the support acts, anyone mentioning Song, by Toad at the door will be given free entry - bloody excellent!] I am not entirely sure about Theoretical Girl, but there’s definitely something interesting going on there, so if New York anti-folk isn’t quite your bag then this slightly theatrical, often piano-led, somewhat Dubstar-esque lady is well worth investigating.
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We all know how good I think the Foxx are, but I am also bloody delighted to get the chance to catch the Second Hand Marching Band again. They encompass a lot of styles, from carnival folk, to more mysterious, dreamy territory and I haven’t seen them for ages.
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I liked the Whispertown 2000 debut album, maybe not quite enough to review it, but enough to be fascinated by their music. They’re getting bigger, too, and I think they are about to play the End of the Road Festival, so they could be on the verge of making a bit of a breakthrough.
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Despite threatening suicide on a number of occasions, Trampoline soldiers on, as the one of the best and most consistently under-publicised nights in Edinburgh. Of the bands on Song, by Toad Records I saw two for the first time at Trampoline shows, and the lineups are almost all excellent.
They have a couple more bodies on board now – Dave and Michael from The Stormy Seas/Shipping Forecast Garden Party/ex-Rubix – so I am really hoping they can push this onto a new level. The lineups are almost always top notch, and I think as a night it should really benefit from the extra help, because it deserves to be a lot bigger than it is. Euan wrote about Beerjacket when he was babysitting this blog in June, so I am really looking forward to seeing them for the first time.
I might not be a massive fan of the Declining Winter myself, but I am bloody delighted to see Tracer Trails back promoting gigs again. The current groundswell of belief in the Edinburgh musical community owes an awful lot to the work done by Tracer Trails a couple of years ago, who consistently brought left-field artists, often of some renown, to Edinburgh and hence, along with the now defunct I Fly Spitfires, did an enormous amount to actually make Edinburgh a place good bands would seriously consider putting on their tour schedule. They also both made a huge contribution to actually building the audiences for this kind of music, giving subsequent promoters a confidence that there were people who would come, if they put on shows themselves.
Both promoters pretty much vanished, just as their labour was beginning to bear fruit for everyone else, which was a huge shame, so it’s really brilliant to see Tracer Trails back in business. I urge you all to go along and show your support, because it would be great to see them back on the list of reliably excellent and challenging promoters we have around at the moment.
 Holy fuck my brain is still resisting any and all attempts to get it working again.
