This new year Mrs. Toad and I will be avoiding the crowds in the centre of town.  We will be doing this for two reasons: firstly, because we’re a pair of antisocial misanthropes and second, because we will have a guest from the States who would like to do something musical.

The result?  The third Toad House Gig, this time going head to head with the nation’s most powerful promoters on the biggest party night in the world – bring it on, bitches!  Actually, we just wanted to avoid the mayhem in the centre of town, and this seemed to be a much more relaxed and congenial way to spend the night.

The gentleman in question is Jon Rooney of the excellent Virgin of the Birds, who have released two free EPs so far this year on Abandoned Love Records.  He will be playing, we will be filming, and it will all be broadcast over the internet as with the other house gigs, although hopefully in somewhat better resolution this time.

Also playing will be Jamie from Broken Records, with a solo acoustic set.  I’ve not seen Jamie play a stripped down set since he very kindly played a couple of songs at the first Toad Christmas Party last year, so I’m really looking forward to this.We’re going to make sure the music goes on fairly early, so anyone who wants to go on somewhere else for the fireworks (which you can see really clearly from Inverleith Park, just near ours, assuming the weather’s nice) can get there in plenty of time, and also so our musical pals can do some serious drinking of their own if they want to.

As usual, we’ll be asking for a fiver from each of you in order to pay the artists.  All of this goes straight to them, so you needn’t worry about your hard-earned cash being siphoned off by an unscrupulous parasite like myself.  And we’ll even treat you all to a glass of champagne at midnight too, if you like.  As it’s New Year, and as we really have no idea of numbers, I’d really like it if you could buy your tickets up front on this one.  It could be really busy, but I’ve really no idea, although if we do sell out (40 tickets, max) then there will be no exceptions.  It is our house after all, and it could turn into chaos if we’re not careful.  Purchase link below, please shop responsibly.

Broken Records – Wolves (Toad Session)

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Virgin of the Birds – Lessons Learned in Turkish Valleys

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Just a meandering, pointless, chatty post, this one, bringing up some bits of news and so on and so forth.

Did everyone know that eagleowl have a new 7″ single coming out in December?  They’re having a launch party at the Bowery on Friday 11th December which we in Edinburgh should make sure we give the most fantastic send-off you can imagine.  Bring the Bowerettes flowers and postcards and letters and drawings and photos and anything you can think of to show them how much the place meant to you.  We should bloody well do that constantly for the next two months actually – fill the walls with messages which show how much we appreciate the work they did for us all.  There you go, there’s a mission for you that should keep you out of (much) trouble for the next little while.

As for eagleowl, they played a couple of new songs at the Withered Hand album launch, and they were gorgeous, so I am really looking forward to getting my grubby little mitts on this particular vinyl treat.

eagleowl – Sleeptide

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We have a few Toad gigs coming up over the next couple of months as well.  Maxwell Panther‘s album launch will take place in the form of a house gig as soon as I can persuade him to get on a train and come on up to Edinburgh.  I am hoping to persuade Dan from Withered Hand to play too, but the swine hasn’t answered his phone for a while, and his phone seems to have voicemail turned off.  Bloody caller ID, if only mobile phones were more anonymous I could ambush him unexpectedly.

Maxwell Panther – Lost Soul on a Roll (That’s Me)

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Then there’s the Toad Christmas Party at the Bowery on the 12th December, with Meursault, Jesus H. Foxx and the usual open-mic nonsense beforehand.  Rory from Broken Records has promised some violin-and-loop-pedal madness during that bit, which I am well looking forward to.

And finally, a gentleman called Jon Rooney who records as Virgin of the Birds is going to be in Edinburgh over New Year and we will be arranging a house gig for him around the 31st or the 1st.  Personally, I think it’s likely to be on New Year’s Eve, but planned to be over early enough for people to get off to other places for the actual New Year itself if they want to.  I’ve invited Rob St. John to play as well, as he’ll be around, but he’s still sorting out his plans for that time of year, so it’s not sorted just yet.

Do you think a house gig/New Year’s party is a good idea?  Or would everyone rather go up the town and get smashed?  I like the idea personally, but I’m flexible if everyone reckons it would be terrible.

Virgin of the Birds – Baby Let Me Trace You

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More really good stuff from Virgin of the Birds, whose previous EP I reviewed only recently.  The plan is to release regular free EPs over the course of the next year or so, which is bloody good news for the likes of you and I.  Once again they flirt with pop songs early on, whilst keeping the rest of the EP fairly downbeat and bare-bones.

It’s funny to note that once again he starts with the pop stuff, before slowly easing matters back to a more measured stroll.  Spanish Accusations has a nice and simple, carefree piano rhythm running through it, giving it a bit of a gentle skip, but by the time The Serpent Plume brings things to a close everything has dissolved into the lazy haze of Summer afternoon.

The interplay of the organ, piano and shuffling guitar is beautifully judged on this EP.  The piano makes rare forays to the surface, becoming prominent only here or there after the first song, but the eccentric little dance it plays at the end of You Love it Loud is a delight.  I would say that it was the crucial instrument on this album, but that would be insulting to everything else.  The gentle rhythm of the shaky egg and acoustic guitar in tandem is really nicely done too, and the organ is just as carefully used, which makes for a really well-balanced recording, in my opinion.

If there’s one thing I have to say about this it’s that I’m really surprised it’s being given away for free.  Add a nice hand-printed sleeve, and this is easily worth five pounds to anyone.  It may not be insistent or aggressive, but it’s really good stuff, and manages to be a lot more effortless than a great many other bands who are a good bit more famous.  This is one of those records, much like Every Rival, which just exudes confidence and solace, the kind of comfort which waits for the hysteria to die down and then quietly steps in a sorts you out when you most need it.

Jon himself will be visiting Edinburgh around New Year, so if anyone would be able to book a live performance, I think that would be a really good idea.  I’d do it myself, but Mrs. Toad and I will be away unfortunately.

Virgin of the Birds – Baby, Let Me Trace You

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This is an unassuming little EP, low key and uninsistent, and yet it is one which hit me immediately for a change.  The slightly nasal vocal reminds me strongly of Dan Bejar, although the music is more Destroyer than New Pornographers, dominated by a regular thrum of acoustic guitar, which slows on occasion to a more deliberate strum full of slow, contemplative piano.

For an EP which generally eschews the pop aesthetic, Ilona, You Should Still Be My Vampire Attendant is a surprisingly infectious pop song, but the rest of the EP is generally a little slower and less insistent.  Funnily enough I find the opening song to be the weakest.  There’s a sort of cod-barroom jazz beat underlying I Loved John which actually reminds me of early 90s MOR-period Everything But the Girl.  The vocals rescue it from being too much of a pastiche, but nevertheless, I am not gripped.

For the rest of Every Rival, that’s emphatically not the case.  The music may not be aggressive in its demands for attention, but I’m finding it really immediately lovely nevertheless.  It has a kind of determined purpose to its underlying sadness, as if it may be down but it’s not beaten.  I’d almost say that there was something quite definite and certain about the tone of the music, actually. I really hope there’s more where this came from.

Virgin of the Birds – Ilona, You Should Still Be My Vampire Attendant

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