Yep, tomorrow is both the lifeboats collection in Stockbridge (turn up at our house between noon and five if you want to help – there will be free champagne and Mrs. Toad might actually bake.  Don’t worry though, there’s a very posh patisserie indeed downstairs in case she fucks it up) and The Leg’s album launch for their fantastic new album An Eagle to Saturn.

The Leg album launch is going to be brilliant.  I have wanted to put on one of these slightly more unusual shows for a long time, actually.  You know, one in a cool location, where the music isn’t just a three-band rock ‘n’ roll bill and all the usual stuff – the kind cool people like Tracer Trails used to put on before they most unkindly buggered off to Glasgow.

Anyhow, these things take time and effort, and frankly I have neither to spare most of the time, so I am grateful to the band themselves stepping in to make this a rather brilliant-sounding night.  Well, in theory anyway, it could yet all go horribly, horribly wrong of course. But it won’t.  Promise.

Anyhow, for those meeting us at The Wash tomorrow, remember that if you go to Papi Falso with your Leg invite tomorrow you’ll get a pound off both gigs, and ours will even finish in plenty of time to get to Henry’s in time for their special super secret musical guest performer. So there you go, that’s your Saturday spoken for.  You can do what you want on Sunday if you like, but your Saturday is MINE!

So, given it’s sunny out, I fully expect those of you who can to skive off early and go find a nice beer garden somewhere nearby, and to spend the afternoon getting slowly pickled and then falling asleep – it just feel like one of those days.  In the meantime, though, why not waste your time answering the following five stupid questions.  Hooray for the internet.

1. Which was your favourite Ghostbuster?
2. Favourite kind of cake.
3. Most trivial injury you’ve had.
4. Kevin Costner or Mel Gibson?
5. What style of music do you fancy this afternoon?  Acoustic, poppy, loud, something else?

I nearly typed ‘Lice in Edinburgh This Week’ in that post title, which actually rather amused me. Just in case you wondered.

Anyhow, wildly entertaining typo anecdotes aside, I have some exciting stuff to tell you about this week, although most of it is Toad stuff, honestly.  The awesomeness of The Leg’s album launch could only be outdone by something pretty fucking special, to be honest, and although Neu Reekie will probably have a good go, I still back The Leg.  This is going to be bloody brilliant.

And if you want to earn some karmic brownie points this week, you will also have the opportunity to do that as well: Mrs. Toad is organising the annual collection for the lifeboats on Saturday and we are looking for volunteers to come down to Stockbridge and help us between about 10am and 5pm.  There will be cake and booze offered as an inducement, and you’ll only be expected to do an hour or so (depending, of course, on how many people actually turn up) and I promise we’ll be suitably grateful.

Anyhow, for those of you who don’t care about helping out for charity (note extreme disapproving face) there are some more conventional entertainments on offer this week as well:

Wednesday 25th April: Three Blind Wolves, Cate leBon, Saul Ashby & Sam Airey at Sneaky Pete’s.

This is another Communion night.  Welsh singer Cate leBon has a new album out nowish, I believe, and she is joined on the bill by Glasgow’s Three Blind Wolves, along with Saul Ashby and Sam Airey.

Friday 27th April: Neu Reekie at the Edinburgh Book Trust.

Neu Reekie is a combination of music, spoken word, poetry, art and all sorts.  It sounds like an excellent night, and I have rather shamefully yet to make it along to one, so I am hoping that this week will be the lucky charm.

Friday 27th April: Remember Remember, M.O.T.O. & Kill the Waves at The Third Door.

I only really know the first band on this bill, and that was from one of Vic Galloway’s lineups at the Electric Circus earlier this year: they’re kinda epic, proggy and hypnotic, and they’re nice and loud too, so I reckon this should be worth a bash on Friday night.

Saturday 28th April: The Leg album launch.

We’ll be meeting at The Wash bar on the Mound, between 6-8pm, and then walking up to the venue from there. There will be a glass or two of wine for everyone, a string quartet because that’s how fucking sophisticated we all are, and then The Leg will play.  Anyone who comes along to this and wants to go to Papi Falso afterwards will get a pound off both gigs too, because we’re that nice.

Saturday 28th April: Papi Falso 1st Birthday Party at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

With special guests, no less, this show will start a little earlier in the night with a secret band playing (on stage late enough that you can go from The Leg launch to this without missing anything), and then unusual boogie late into the night.

This is called the Justcast because, whilst it may well be late, it is entirely justifiably late, so piss off and stop moaning at me. And come on, stop being coy, I know you’re secretly tutting.  Or at least I fucking hope you are, because the other option is that you don’t really give a fuck, and where would that leave us?

So, having worked all through the working week, and then having spent all of Saturday working at Record Store Day stuff, I got to Sunday and was honestly just not up for doing anything at all, sorry. I was pooped.  Bushed.  Knackered. Tuckered. Done for.  So I did fuck all, and I actually felt guilty about this for a while, and then realised that actually, every cunt gets a fucking weekend, so stop feeling sorry for yourself, embrace a day of doing bugger all, and just do the podcast as soon as you can reasonably manage.  So there you go.

Next week I might do a bit of a podcast on my Record Store Day purchases (and there were many) but not this week, because I haven’t had the chance to sit down and listen to them yet.  Maybe Thursday that might happen.  And/or Wednesday.  And then I will waffle on about them on the internet next week, for which I am sure you will all be truly grateful.

Direct download: Toadcast #223 – The Justcast

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01. The Leg – Witch on the Speaker (00.15)
02. Algiers – Blood (05.33)
03. The Walkmen – Heaven (14.17)
04. Milk Maid – Do Right (18.49)
05. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat – The Powers and the Glory of Love (23.44)
06. Daily Life – Alabaster (29.26)
07. Possimiste – Clockworkbird (33.17)
08. Liars – No.1 Against the Rush (40.16)
09. Richard Hawley – Leave Your Body Behind You (46.13)
10. The Babies – My Name (57.33)

Record Store (shop, shop, it’s called a fucking SHOP!) Day is always bad news for my cash reserves.  I am not, I have to confess, all that enticed by the exclusives, as honestly I find that all a bit gimmicky and pointless, but I do like the idea of encouraging people back into shops and reminding people what a pleasure it is to spend hours poking around through racks of records.

Music is a personal, physical thing for me – it involves the sense, of course it’s physical! – and gigs and community events like Record Store Day help to reinforce that, and therefore despite the needless exclusives and the exploitation of artificial scarcity, I still like the social side of it, as well as the cooperation between shops, labels, bands and venues it seems to encourage.

We have a good few things happening in the next week or so actually, starting with RM Hubbert, Yusuf Azak and Rory Sutherland at Henry’s tonight.  Then tomorrow, the RSD festivities kick in, with Withered Hand and Ballboy at Avalanche, and Neil from Meursault and PAWS down at Voxbox in Stockbridge.

Then, next weekend, we have The Leg’s album launch.  We are going to be meeting in The Wash between 6-8pm, and then walking up to a secret venue in the Old Town for a free private party.  And if, say, you were to pay a £5 non-refundable deposit for a copy of their new album (by using the button below), then we will almost certainly be touched enough to invite you.  *cough*

Anyhow, enough business, it’s Friday, and that means fucking about on the internet.  Answer these five stupid questions and I shall be happy to fuck about on the internet with you:

1. If you could re-colour an animal, what would it be?
2. What’s the first pop music you really remember being aware of?
3. What do you really enjoy shopping for?
4. And what do you hate shopping for?
5. Are you going to buy anything special on Record Store Day?

On the 30th April we will be releasing our first album of 2012: the rather fantastic An Eagle to Saturn by The Leg. I’ve wanted to release this album ever since I first heard Twitching Stick at the beginning of last year, and now we have it, on both fine heavyweight vinyl and CD.

As well as Twitching Stick, which was on the 2012 Song, by Toad Records Free Sampler, we are now offering Bake Yourself Silly as a free download to help you decide whether or not to buy the album (hint: the answer is Yes), which you can do here

Also, on Saturday 28th April we will be holding a very special party to celebrate the launch at a secret venue in Edinburgh’s Old Town. Due to the slightly dubious nature of the space itself we’ll be meeting upstairs at The Wash bar, which is the closest by – between 7 and 8pm, and will then all walk up to the place together.

The Leg will be supplying a little wine and maybe a beer or two – no need to bring your own.

As it’s a private party, you’ll need to be invited. This can happen by putting down a non-refundable deposit on a CD or LP – then if you want to, you can pay the balance on the night and I’ll give you your record. If you don’t, you don’t have to. Either way, if you put down a deposit, I’ll almost certainly be grateful enough to give you an invite. Simple. You can do this here:

Sorry, ticket link down now. A few should be available on the door though, so meet us in The Wash between about 7 and 8pm.

Seeing as that evening also happens to feature the excellent Papi Falso at Henry’s Cellar Bar, we can also inform you that if you wish to attend both you will receive a pound off both tickets, so we can all go and get fannied later on the cheap.

And, as promised, here is the new single which you can download from the Soundcloud player below – enjoy!

Bake Yourself Silly by Song, by Toad

Caring about music is nice, but it’s pretty easy.  We like stuff, we don’t like stuff, we grievously insult people with different opinions from ourselves… the usual tedious carping.

However, once a year we get the chance to do something a little bit more, and to actually make a bit of a contribution to the world: Mrs Toad organises the Stockbridge collection for the RNLI – the lifeboats for you acronymophobes – and on Saturday 28th April we will be asking you for a little help.

Every year we collect for the RNLI between 10am and 4pm here in Stockbridge and every year our friends and various music allies turn out to help us.  We are very grateful for the help, and once again this year we will be asking for it.  Usually the incentives we offer involve roast lamb and plenty of wine, but this year we can add another gentle inducement:

On the evening of the 28th April Edinburgh’s sonic alchemists The Leg will be launching their new album An Eagle to Saturn at a mystery venue in Edinburgh’s Old Town, and if you choose to be so nice as to help us collect for the lifeboats beforehand then Mrs. Toad and I will pay for your ticket to the album launch show.  As well as plying you with roast meat and wine.

So in other words, if you don’t turn up and help out, you must be a pretty dismal sort of fucker; shame on you. Tickets for The Leg album launch can be bought in person from me, from the band, or from Avalanche Records in the Grassmarket.

April Fool’s Day really does bore me to tears.  The jokes are so weak and obvious most of the time that they really are pointless, although Avalanche’s Withered Hand futon did make me laugh.

It’s the forced bonhomie which I find the most tedious, I have to confess. ‘Oh yes, ha ha, very funny, well done you, gosh how everso fucking hilarious’.

And then just occasionally you hear news, like Viva Brother splitting up which, whilst it is painfully obviously an April Fool, is just too close to real, actual good news we’d actually all want to hear to cause any real merriment.

And then there’s the Republican candidates for the presidency of the United States.  Tragic, frightening, comical, and depressing. And sadly not an April Fool’s joke either.

Direct download: Toadcast #220 – The Foolcast

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01. Two Tears – Heisse Hexe (00.22)
02. Magic Eye – Flamin’ Teenage (06.49)
03. North American War – Me & My G.I. Joes (14.02)
04. Palms  – Wolf (18.57)
05. Habibi Band – Sunsets (25.39)
06. Woodsman – Supernal Radionics (30.55)
07. Sex Hands – The Moist Maker (39.25)
08. The Leg – Bake Yourself Silly (43.30)
09. Father Sculptor – Ember (48.39)
10. Kurt Vile – Freak Train (57.09)

 Song, by Toad Records hereby release into the world what we reckon is going to become an annual free sampler, mostly as a free download, but with a few CDs given to local record shops and available at gigs as well.

The sampler is a combination of things we’ll be releasing this year, mixed in with a couple of things from 2011 and interspersed with a few brilliant moments from the late Kenneth Williams’ reading of the Wind in the Willows. Snippets from this reading litter my own weekly podcast, and inspired the name of the label in the first place, so it seemed kind of fitting to pop a couple on here.

You can download this little parcel of digital fun from Bandcamp for free, and we are sending out a few to our favourite record shops to give away as well, so if you want a CD either come to a Song, by Toad gig in Edinburgh or go to a record shop.

Tracklisting:

02. So the Wind Won’t… by Jesus H. Foxx
I’ve been waiting for their debut album through two years of ‘nearly theres’, but it is finally finished, it sounds brilliant and will be ready for release on 14th May 2012.

03. Twitching Stick by The Leg
Formerly Khaya, then Desc, The Leg are veterans of several Peel Sessions and several releases already, but have agreed to release their next album An Eagle to Saturn with us. Coming out on 30th April, this is abrasive as fuck, but definitely still surprisingly poppy, considering.

04. The Acid Test by Rob St. John
We released Rob’s debut album Weald on vinyl last year, and the response was so overwhelmingly positive we’ve decided to give it a wider release on CD too. Rob being Rob, of course, he’s already planning to record his second album, probably in our living room again.

05. Sorry by Waiters
06. Teenage Bloom by Dolfinz
08. Gay Marriage by Sex Hands
On the subject of recording in our living room, the Waiters, Dolfinz and Sex Hands tracks are from a split 12” (which will also include hotly-tipped* Glasgow band PAWS) all of which was recorded almost entirely live in the living room of our house by myself and Rory Sutherland from Broken Records. It’s sort of a compilation of some of my favourite underground, garagey (and frighteningly young) bands, and we’ve just had it mastered, so it will hopefully be ready for release in late March or early April.

09. A Mother’s Arms (demo) by Meursault
It feels like we’ve been waiting quite a long time for the third Meursault album too, doesn’t it. Well it’s finally done, and we are looking at a release date in mid-July, with a release night pencilled in for Saturday 7th July in the Queen’s Hall.

10. School (Toad Session) by The Black Tambourines
We recorded a Toad Session with these guys last year and immediately offered to release something. I’m not sure what it’ll be yet – probably an EP in the Autumn I would guess.

11. Lay Me Down by Yusuf Azak
From his unspeakably gorgeous second album, due out in 2012 sometime, depending on when I get a final master.

12. That is a Big Door! by Trips and Falls
From their second album, People Have to Be Told, released in September 2011.

13. Dead Golden Girls by Lil Daggers
From their self-titled debut album, which we released on vinyl at the end of last year.

14. Pinkening by Animal Magic Tricks
This was recorded just after 2009’s stunning Cold Seeds album, which was a collaboration between Frances from Animal Magic Tricks, Pete Harvey and Neil Pennycook from Meursault and Kenny Anderson from King Creosote. There still isn’t what you could describe as a finished version, but I am not giving up hope because it is a gorgeous album, even just as it stands at the moment.

15. Pool Attendant by The Japanese War Effort
This is from 2011’s Summer Sun Skateboard, and we hope to release another mini-album with Jamie in the Autumn of 2012.

16. Blue Overcoat by Lach
From 2011 vinyl album Ramshackle Heart.

18. Movies and Magazines by King Post Kitsch
A free dowload from kingpostkitsch.bandcamp.com After a year in Glasgow, Charlie has moved back down to London, and after his awesome debut The Party’s Over in early 2011 I am eagerly looking forward to new material.

*Yes, I know I said ‘hotly-tipped’, but honestly, they are, I’m not just copy-and-pasting from The Big Book of PR Clichés.

 After complaining last week about the continuing collapse of Edinburgh’s venues and the harm that does to anyone involved in music in the city, this remarkable gig came as something of a pleasant surprise.

Of course, if the currently proposed Public Entertainment License, which contrary to the impression you might get from the current discussion is not just restricted to Glasgow but in fact nationwide, comes into force, then gigs like this will become prohibitively expensive and awkward to put on and will therefore simply not happen.

And a good thing too.  One thing Scotland doesn’t need is eccentric bands playing intimate gigs in odd places. Bad Fun? Innovation? Pah! Balls to it.

Mary King’s Close, for those who are unfamiliar with the place, is part of the old town of Edinburgh, buried under the Royal Mile.  It was reputed to have been filled with the corpses of plague victims back in the Seventeenth Century and bricked over, with some of the wilder stories saying that many still living were bricked in there with the dead, but apparently these tales have since come to be regarded as ‘somewhat exaggerated’.  I am, of course, hardly an expert.  Certainly the tourist attraction the close has become plays heavily on ghosts and haunting and all that bollocks, and while that is a bit childish and gimmicky, there is no denying the creepy atmosphere of the place.

Paul Vickers and The Leg are an odd concoction as well.  It never comes across as ‘The Leg, but with some other bloke doing the singing for a change’ nor ‘Paul Vickers and his backing band’; there is a genuine meeting of minds here which, although it was less obvious the first time I heard their recorded stuff, is particularly clear when you see them live.

Unamplified, they gives themselves a few challenges, not least in robbing their cellist of his multitude of pedals, but it doesn’t harm the show in the slightest.  In fact the four of them, doused in flour and cackling at one another, could hardly have been presented in a more appropriate manner.

I have to confess to not being all that familiar with the band’s repertoire, so the performance was as curious for me as the venue, but there were some stonking tunes in there.  The maniacal glee with which they were delivered was an added bonus, not just by Vickers himself, but by the supportive screeching of various members of The Leg too.

It was odd, but it was a cracking evening.  We need more stuff like this around here.  Lots more.

The Fishcast is so called because Dolfinz are here recording for our split 12″, and erm, well dolphins aren’t fish are they, but umm… well it sounded better than The ‘Aquatic mammals which look a bit like fish but aren’tcast.

Dolfinz played a pretty big drum kit – three toms, three ride cymbals, a double bass drum pedal, and the result was an absolutely frightening racket which must have been shaking the bloody pictures off the walls next door.  We’re recording the PAWS songs for the split in about ten days’ time, and after that I think we’ll have to give the neighbours  a good long break from the kind of noise we make in here from time to time or they’ll go fucking mental.

In the meantime, we have some songs chosen by the Dolfinz lads, some new stuff from my inbox and a couple of things I should have really got into ages ago but for no good reason at all, just didn’t.  Shame on me.

Direct download: Toadcast #209 – The Fishcast

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01. Fuck (00.20)
02. Cum Stain – Broke My Dick (03.27)
03. Smackvan – Black Eyes (07.59)
04. Keel Her – Enid Coleslaw (16.23)
05. The Distillers – Dismantle Me (20.04)
06. LeThug – Swam (25.47)
07. Benjamin Shaw – How to Test the Depth of a Well (36.57)
08. The Leg – A Rat’s Health (42.43)
09. Flight – Witch Hunt Town (48.57)
10. Coolrunnings – Spirit of the High (53.20)
11. The Divine Comedy – A Seafood Song (60.27)