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)

For this podcast I am joined by Ian, who is now a member of the Song, by Toad Records team, to go through a bit of a run-down of what’s going to be happening on the label this year.

We’ve got a couple of our more recent releases, like Rob St. John and Lil Daggers, as well as some of our confirmed and ready new albums for next year, by the likes of The Leg, Jesus H. Foxx and Yusuf Azak.

I’ve also got a couple of tracks from bands we’ll be releasing on a split 12″ in the Spring.  We’ll be recording that stuff in our house next week, so the songs we chose to represent those bands are for obvious reasons not the final ones we’ll be releasing, just tracks by the bands so you can get a bit of a flavour of what we’re up to.

With Ian on board and based on the good press we managed last year I am hoping we can really kick on with the label this year and make a decent impression.  Obviously the third Meursault album will  help, what with them being our most established band, but we have a good spread of stuff, from bands like Dolfinz with only a few demos to their name, to the likes of Yusuf Azak and The Leg who people know already and then the Foxx album, which has been ‘much anticipated’ for a while now.

So all in all it should be an exciting year, I reckon.  Enjoy!

Direct download: Toadcast #208 – Song, by Toad Records 2012

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01. Mongrels – I’m Gonna Murder Justin Bieber (00.21)
02. King Post Kitsch – The Make the Same Faces Whether Fuck or Fight (02.46)
03. Meursault – Flittin’ (locationmusic.tv Piano Version) (08.49)
04. Rob St. John – The Acid Test (17.59)
05. Lil Daggers – Dead Golden Girls (22.05)
06. Paws – Bloodline (Toad Session) (31.52)
07. Jesus H. Foxx – This is Not a Rental Car (40.31)
08. The Leg – Twitching Stick (43.00)
09. Sex Hands – Jinglebitch (51.56)
10. Dolfinz – Blowhole (55.36)
11. Yusuf Azak – Lay Me Down (63.12)

 Morning.  Fucking brilliantly awesome get tae fuck good fucking morning to you all.  Grrrmpf.  You know those days which start out fucking shite from the very get go and before you answer a single email or deal with a single individual you’re already within a whisker of just telling everyone to piss off because you just can’t be fucking arsed with them?  Yep, one of those I’m afraid.  Hopefully El and Brian will cheer me up on Fresh Air this afternoon.

This is the last show on Fresh Air this entire term, I think, so we’ll be playing a combination of Christmas tat and end-of-year favourites, I believe.  And after that I shall be scuttling off for a much-deserved pint.

On air from 3:30pm UK time – listen live here

In the meantime, after the hugely successful song of the year vote, we are at that time of year, where I ask you to tell us all which albums you have loved the most this year.  I’ll add them up as we go along and on Monday I will announce the winner.

This is of course the perfect opportunity to de-lurk and say hello.  It’s always nice to hear from people I had no idea were reading, and of course our readership is orders of magnitude larger than our commentership* so I am forever wondering who these shadowy thousands are who read the site regularly but hang about in the shadows saying nothing.  Make today the day!

So, simply, just list your five favourite albums, in no particular order, preferably in the format band – album so I can tally them easier, and we’ll see who everyone’s been enjoying the most in 2011.  And the tracklisting for the radio show will appear live below as we go along, once the show starts at half three.

1. Ian Humberstone – The House on the Hill
2. Seth Faergolzia – Weird Old Toad
3. The Leg – Witch on the Speakers
4. Jesus H. Foxx – So Much Water
5. Louis Barabbas & the Bedlam Six – Away in a Manger
6. Meursault – Christmas in Kirkcaldy
7. Warpaint – Billie Holiday
8. Tom Lehrer – A Christmas Carol
9. Yusuf Azak – Swim
10. Plastic Animals – Post-Rapture Blues
11. Trapped Mice – Just Like Christmas (Low cover)
12. Waiters – Tomorrowland
13. Battles – Ice Cream
14. Easter – Damp Patch
15. Hookworms – Teen Dreams
16. Dead Rabbits – All You Need
17. Sons of Joy – Go Tell it on the Mountain

*My sincere apologies to the English language.

Snooze!  Yes, a genuine, proper weekend snooze was had this morning and it was fucking amaaaaazing!  I haven’t actually had the chance to lazily sleep in for fucking months and it was an enormous pleasure.  And not even a guilty one, because I genuinely don’t have to rush about being efficient today.  Awesome!

This week’s podcast contains a fair bit of plugging, I have to confess.  Not all for myself though.  I plug the Kurt Vile tour, Jonnie Common’s Deskjob as well as his new album, the new Oates Field album and the new album by The Leg.

Then, just for good measure, I also plug the upcoming Ides of Toad gigs, and two new releases on Song, by Toad Records.  I hope it doesn’t get too much for you, but I don’t think so, because all the songs are very good and hopefully you know me well enough by now to know full well that I don’t plug anything I don’t genuinely like.  So there.  Enjoy.  That’s an order.

Direct download: Toadcast #190 – The Snoozecast

01. Jonnie Common – Infinitea (00.21)
02. The Oates Field – Nae Luck (09.50)
03. Adam Balbo – Just Singing a Song (15.37)
04. The Leg – Twitching Stick (17.22)
05. Kurt Vile – IN/OUT Blues (23.40)
06. Easter – Damp Patch (30.03)
07. Trips and Falls – I Learned Sunday Morning, on a Wednesday (38.41)
08. Rob St. John – Your Phantom Limb (41.39)
09. Sea Pinks – Fountain Tesserae (46.47)
10. Tuesday Glass – Franklin (50.16)
11. John Knox Sex Club – Above Us the Waves (59.23)

I don’t really need to add anything to the following, do I?  Apart from a big thanks to the Electric Circus for suggesting I put these nights on, thanks to all the bands for agreeing to play and umm… well, I hope to fuck you all turn up, eh!

Right, after an unspeakable beast of a week last week, handling the diciest of dicey session, lost bands, exploding PAs and jetlag, this shall be the week of brutal efficiency.  Vorsprung Durch Technik and all that sort of thing.

It is also the week we finalise the Lach masters, the King Post Kitsch vinyl master for the Don’t You Touch My Fucking Honeytone single (May 16th) and get the print press promotional work moving for his album, The Party’s Over.  Things, in short, are in full swing.

Lower Dens, The Scottish Enlightenment and Edinburgh School for the Deaf were all bloody excellent at Sneaky Pete’s last night, but I didn’t see all that many of you fuckers there.  Shame on you all, shame indeed!

There aren’t all that many conventional gigs knocking about Edinburgh this week, but there are certainly some interesting ones.

Friday 1st April 2011: Arrington De Dionyso & The Leg at the Bristo Hall.

This will lurch between unlistenable nonsense and mental genius, I would imagine, as the best music should.  The more recognisable elements seem to be at least somewhat related to a Beefhearty stomp, but that’s just one touchstone for what a quick listen to De Dionyso’s MySpace (for that’s all I know about him) shows to be a rather broad spectrum of styles.  Also, the Leg are fucking awesome.

Arrington De Dionysio – The Invisible New

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Saturday 2nd April 2011: Two Wings & Family Elan at Old St. Paul’s Church Hall.

Two Wings first came to my attention a few weeks ago, and I am really interested in what little of their stuff exists so far.  It’s quite melodramatic, flighty, psychedelic folk, but it has plenty of balls and force, and I will be really interested to hear where they go from here.  I don’t really know anything about Family Elan, but Powan Presents put on really good gigs, so I would say that if they are good enough for them, then they are good enough for me.

Saturday 2nd April 2011: Meursault, Conquering Animal Sound & Jonnie Common play Limbo at The Voodoo Rooms.

I haven’t actually seen Meursault play since they acquired a fiddle player, a drummer and a bass guitarist, so this will be a weird experience for me – almost as if the label has signed a new band, who sound suspiciously like an old band we used to know.  Conquering Animal Sound and Jonnie Common shouldn’t need any introduction on these pages, but if you don’t know them, take my word for it, they’re excellent.

Meursault – Flittin’ (Demo)

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[Edit: Fuck me for being an idiot, it's Haddowfest this weekend as well.  What a tool!  The lineup looks a little patchy, but there are some good bands on there, and I'm really impressed with how this festival has grown over the last couple of years.]

Apologies for the late appearance of this post, but erm, gin interfered with my ability to function like a normal member of society yesterday so umm… well, you’ll just have to forgive me I suppose.  Rest assured it hurt me more than it hurt you.

Anyway, it’s sort of a busy week this week, although it takes its own sweet time to get going. Mondy, blah, Tuesday, booring, Wednesday, nah nothing much, Thursday: MAYHEM!  Well sort of.  For me there will the the Wide Days launch at the Teviot during the day, and the Electric Circus in the evening, then my Fresh Air Radio show with Ruth, and then scampering off to the Voodoo Rooms to catch what I can of FOUND’s Factorycraft album launch.

Then we have the Ides of Toad returning on Friday, in Henry’s Cellar Bar this time, which will be a bit of a blast from the past for me.  I went to tons of gigs at Henry’s when I was first getting interested in music in Edinburgh, but that just doesn’t seem to happen so much anymore so it’ll be nice, if a little strange, to be back there. Anyhow, this stuff is all in the Big Ol’ List below, so there’s no point prattling on about it here is there.

Thursday 3rd March 2011: FOUND at the Voodoo Rooms – album launch for Factorycraft, hosted by Limbo.

FOUND’s new album is out on Chemikal Underground, and for those who don’t already know how eye-caressingly lovely it looks, have a bit of a gander here. The album itself is surprisingly more indie rock than I would have ever have expected, and there are some absolute stormers on there.  This album has been waiting to find a home for some time now, and many of the tracks are already firm live favourites – like You’re no Vincent Gallo, f’rinstance.  I am not sure what tracks they might or might not be happy to share at this stage, so here’s a Toad Session version of that song.  The one on the album, I promise you, is very different.

FOUND – You’re No Vincent Gallo (Toad Session)

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Friday 4th March 2011: The Leg, Louis Barabbas & the Bedlam Six & Zed Penguin play The Ides of Toad at Henry’s Cellar Bar.

This one should be a stomper: we have the excellent, raucous Leg, the extravagant, mental Bedlam Six and the brand spanking new Zed Penguin. I’ve not been down to Henry’s for ages, but this should be the perfect gig to return with: loud, dirty and a little bit mental.

Zed Penguin – This Town

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Saturday 5th March 2011: Withered Hand, Zoey Van Goey & O Messy Life play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.

This is a joint fundraiser to send Withered Hand and Zoey Van Goey out to SXSW this year, and the latest installment in the Limbo chaps’ frantic start to the year.

Withered Hand – New Dawn

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Sunday 6th March 2011: Dan Michaelson & the Coastguards, The Heebie Jeebies, The Wooden Sky, This Daring Move at Sneaky Pete’s.

This has a touch of Cousteau, a touch of Richard Hawley and even a touch of our own Savings and Loan to it, and for those whose liver hasn’t been utterly obliterated by the preceding three days, I think this looks like a really good bet, particularly if you are looking for something non-local for a change at the end of the week.

Ruth and I are back on Fresh Air in a couple of hours, so it is naturally time for much rejoicing on the airwaves of the interwebs. In fact, I am sure the internet could barely be more excited about the prospect than it clearly is already.  Can’t you see it trembling with anticipation?

While we’re indulging in hyperbole, incidentally, last week the unbelievable happened: Ruth was genuinely impressed with one of my music choices.  I think it was Do It Every Time by Ringo Deathstarr, but the shock when she raised her eyebrows and said ‘this is really good’ rather than just rolling her eyes and letting out a weary sigh almost knocked me clean out of my chair.

On air from 8pm UK time – click here to listen live.

As per usual, if you have any trouble with the audio stuttering (a problem which seems to be solved now) just pause and un-pause the player, or find us in the ‘College Radio’ section on iTunes.

The playlist will appear below, as we play it, so feel free to stop by and heckle.

1. TuneYards – Bizness
2. Joni Mitchell – Little Green
3. The Honey Pies – Get it Right
4. Dr. Dog – Breeze
5. The Leg – Twitching Stick
6. Zed Penguin – This Town
7. Dusty Springfield – I Thing it’s Gonna Rain
8. Leonard Cohen – Hey, That’s No way to Say Goodbye
9. Seefeel – Dead Guitars
10. David Byrne & Dirty Projectors – Knotty Pine
11. Wolf Eyes – Track 1
12. Active Child – Body Heat (So Far Away)
13. Virgin of the Birds – Love Among the Cannibals

So, a holiday coming up (an actual one this time – no computer, no work, no nothing) and so many things to get done.  I reeled them off in the van this morning when I was driving Mrs. Toad to work and she asked me if there were actually enough hours in the day to get everything done, and I had to answer in the negative.  Not even if I didn’t actually sleep at all.  So now it’s just a case of choosing what to neglect, which for an obsessive like me is not a comfortable decision to have to make.

So, if anyone has ever wanted to write anything for these pages, this week would be a splendid time to get in touch.  Dylan can be reached at sunday@songbytoad.com – just email a post through as he has kindly offered to generally administer the site in my absence.  It can be anything, from a gig review to a band recommendation, to a rant about something, to just a general ramble about something in your musical past – anything really.

Anyhow, after an enforced absence of several weeks due to holidays, Haarfests and suchlike, it is time to get back to the Wark of a Friday evening.  Mrs. Toad and I haven’t been there for bloody ages, and we are both starting to get twitchy with withdrawal symptoms.

Oh, and of course, the Festival is nearly over, so if you want to take one last chance to catch some things then this is the last week you’ll have the chance.  Lach’s Antihoot finishes this weekend, and they are getting in sort of a greatest hits lineup to mark the finale.  And of course, the Retreat Festival is this weekend at Pilrig St. Paul’s Church in Leith.  If you like music and you don’t go, you are an idiot, it is as simple as that.

So all that remains is for me to ask you to delurkify and chip in your answers to five stupid Friday questions, and then piddle away the rest of your day bickering with people because, let’s face it, you were never really going to do any work on Friday afternoon were you?  Honestly?  Nah, of course not.

1. Chore you will avoid doing this weekend.
2. Biggest treat in store for the weekend.
3. Tune for the afternoon.
4. What should you be doing at the moment instead of fannying about on the internet?
5. Bit of really mindless entertainment you will enjoy most this weekend.

Five bands from the Retreat Festival sampler, which can be downloaded here for free:

Enfant Bastard – Twix Party

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The Wee Rogue – I Cross My Heart

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eagleowl – Eat Hats

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The Douglas Firs – Soporific

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The Leg – Switches

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Firstly, the flurry of posts yesterday, from my rather tardy podcast to radio show post, meant that my brother’s Sunday Supplement – a rant about classical music – was buried rather too fast, so please do go back and check it out if you have a little time to waste this afternoon.

Secondly, the Edge Festival goes bloody nuts this week, and if I listed all the gigs then I’d be here all day, and there really is no need for that, so you can have it in paragraph form instead: on Monday 23rd we have Field Music at Sneaky Pete’s and Bear in Heaven at Electric Circus (late).  Tuesday sees The Phantom Band at the Electric Circus, Wednesday Eels at the Picturehouse and Thursday Mark Lanegan at the Liquid Room (who have finally got a website worthy of the name).  Friday is quiet, and then on the weekend we have Harlem at Sneaky Pete’s on Saturday and Modest Mouse at the Picturehouse on Sunday.  All these things you can Google yourselves if you are interested, and there is more info on the Edge site, here.

When it comes to more homegrown things, however, there is still plenty on this week, a good deal at the reassuringly active Bristo Hall – a really nice space which doesn’t get used as often as it might.

Monday 23rd August 2010: Pet, The Leg, The Pineapple Chunks, Sara & the Snakes at the Bristo Hall.

This might well be a late one (11pm-3am) so check it out before you go or you’ll be totally fucking wasted by the time the first band comes on.  I haven’t heard much from the Chunks for a while, as I believe they’ve been recording, so it would be rather cool if there were some new material here to be enjoyed.  There’s quite some distance covered from Sara & the Snakes’ swampy, bluesy garage stuff, the Chunks’ ramshackle whateverthefuckitistheyplay, and the Leg, who are so good they makes themselves sick down themselves (or so I hear anyway, because I have yet to see them live, for shame).

The Pineapple Chunks – Art Storage

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Tuesday 24th August 2010: White Heath, French Wives, Fiction Faction (Formerly Casino Brag,) Sebastian Dangerfield, Washington Irving, and Foxgang at the Bristo Hall.

This is a big lineup selected by Foxgang for their Festival Special.  Given the reluctance of local promoters to do anything at all during the festival (and I have every sympathy – I do the same) it is good to see these guys putting on their own showcase.  Highlights for me would be the indie-pop of Sebastian Dangerfield, and Glaswegian indie pair Washington Irving and French Wives, from Instinctive Raccoon.

Sebastian Dangerfield – The Flood (Pt.1)

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Saturday 28th August 2010: Broken Records and Sparrow & the Workshop at the Liquid Room.

These are two of the original Song, by Toad bands, in a certain sense.  Both now have labels and albums and careers, dammit, and it’s weird.  With debut albums fairly well in the rearview mirror I would imagine that there will be a fair amount of new material on show here, although I know Broken Records don’t want to ruin the surprise for when their second album comes out later in the year.  Their new stuff sounds a lot more layered and guitary and a lot less folky than their earliest material, and I am deeply curious about the new record.

Broken Records – A Leaving Song

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Saturday 28th/Sunday 29th August 2010: Retreat Festival at Pilrig St. Paul’s church.

A free download sampler featuring a large number of the bands playing can be downloaded from here, if you’d like a bit of a preview.  Other than that, take it from me, this is going to be the highlight of the Edinburgh gig calendar, no exceptions – full details here, and I reckon you should probably buy tickets in advance (weekend – Saturday – Sunday) too as I doubt there will be too many left on the door.