Song, by Toad

If you’re going to everything that’s on this week, you might wish to consider drinking cups of tea at gigs or you’ll have a liver like a fucking cricket ball by the end of all this.  You could literally drink your way through the week, the finest of music dancing in your ears, and a great big beer-hoover emptying your wallet.

My absolute definites are Withered Hand, Sparrow & the Workshop, Trembling Bells, Findo Gask and, erm, Jesus H. Foxx.  Christ.  I am going to have to make sure I have a couple of orange juice gigs in that lot or I’ll be hungover for a week and possibly divorced as well by the time Sunday comes around.

Bad liver, naughty liver, must be punished.

Monday 16th February 2009: Emmy the Great at Cabaret Voltaire.

I am a little conflicted on Emmy the Great.  It’s far too tempting to call her Emmy the Perfectly Reasonable, but that is about where I stand.  She has some very sharp lyrics, and has written some really good tunes, but on listening to her debut album I found myself perhaps less able to enjoy her music in large chunks than I was when I was sampling it in small slices.
Emmy the Great – Where is My Mind

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Tuesday 17th February 2009: Chris Whittle & Simon Kempston at the Bowery.

This will be an evening of guitary singer-songwriters, so perhaps the right time to take it easy and just bask in the music, instead of getting pickled and dancing about the place.
Chris Whittle – Stay

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Wednesday 18th February 2009: Withered Hand, Sparrow & the Workshop & Jo Foster at the Bowery.

I haven’t seen Withered Hand’s twisted folk songs performed for a while now.  Nor, actually, have I seen Sparrow & the Workshop’s clattersome Americana.  There is no way on earth I’ll be missing this gig.
Withered Hand – Cornflake

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Thursday 19th February 2009: Findo Gask, Babygod & Night Noise Team play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.

Findo Gask’s new single One Eight Zero is one of the best things I’ve heard in ages – part electronic pop, but far too lovelorn and plaintive for that.  I am really looking forward to seeing them play.  I know a lot less about the other two bands, but Limbo can generally be relied upon to produce the goods, so I’ll not be late!
Findo Gask – One Eight Zero

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Friday 20th February 2009: Trembling Bells at the Bowery.

I am fascinated to see how Trembling Bells’ theatrical folk music translates live.  Carbeth, their forthcoming album, is a fantastic record, albeit one with such a distinctive style I can’t imagine it will appeal to everyone.  But for myself, there’s no chance I’ll be missing this one.
Trembling Bells – I Took to You (Like Christ to Wood)

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Sunday 22nd February 2009: Crystal Stilts & Jesus H. Foxx at Sneaky Pete’s.

Any band who want to get anywhere this year have Crystal in their name.  I never realised when I reviewed their EP last September that they would go on to be quite so buzzy, especially given the low-fi sound, grumbling away with distant vocals and C86 guitars, but here they are.  And Jesus H. Foxx have been working on all sorts of new stuff as well, which I am very excited to hear.
Crystal Stilts – Crippled Croon

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Sunday 22nd February 2009: The Spinto Band at Cabaret Voltaire.

I don’t know the Spinto Band very well, although I’ve heard the name often enough.  Still, a quick listen to their MySpace page confirms that were it not for Sneaky Pete’s I would want to be at this gig as well.  Ah well.  In a week like this, something’s got to give.
The Spinto Band – Summer Grof

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Welcome to another week tending the fertile pastures of Edinburgh’s gig scene for shuffling indie kids. I’m working flat out to get the Sparrow session done for this week’s podcast so beyond tonight I will be hiding in the house for most of the week, I’m afraid, probably swearing at the computer and cursing analogue technology for being so fucking shit and chewing all my tape of the session. Frustrating. Really, very frustrating.

Still, I think we have time for one last session this year, but I will be renting a digital camera this time, instead of all this tape shit, so hopefully there won’t be any such problems in futre

Monday 10th November 2008: Samamidon & Meursault at the Bowery.
After the Bowery’s splendid opening party they keep the ball rolling this week with Samamidon supported by a largely solo set from Meursault’s Neil Pennycook. Samamidon’s All is Well is a gorgeously gentle acoustic album, so I’m really looking forward to this, as well as hearing what Neil sounds like with no accompaniment, except for a bit of banjo and backing vocals here and there.
Samamidon – Saro

Monday 10th November 2008: Rob St.John, Molly Wagger, Alison & the Mings & Simon Kempston at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
Rob is playing an electric guitar these days, and the hushed, breathy folk of recent years seems to be slowly yielding to a more confident, assertive attitude. His performance at the Bowery on Saturday was superb, and he has a new EP coming out shortly which is also sounding excellent, so I strongly recommend you catch him either this week or next, when he plays Cabaret Voltaire with Meursault and Sparrow & the Workshop.
Rob St. John – Wooden Rose
Alison & the Mings – Those Steep Slopes

Friday 14th November 2008: Rbrbr, Funkspiel & The Foundling Wheel at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
If you fancy something a little more experimental this weekend then Henry’s is the place to go, with some electronic pop stuff and then the thunderously deranged Foundling Wheel. Really, just go for the Foundling Wheel. I don’t know who stole Ted’s pills, but it seems to have had the desired effect.
The Foundling Wheel – Mixed Minds & Missteps

Friday 14th November 2008: Death Cab For Cutie at the Corn Exchange.
Given it’s nearly twenty quid for a band I actually have very little time for then it’s safe to say that I won’t be going. Still, a lot of people into the same sort of stuff as gets written about on this site like these chaps an awful lot, so I thought it worth mentioning. Their dreamy, hazy, downbeat, slightly electronic indie has never quite captured my imagination, despite being pretty much right up my street. Almost, just not quite.  Oh well, so it goes.
Death Cab For Cutie – The New Year