It’s Tigerfest and The Kays Lavelle album launch this week, as well as being May, which says to me that our first barbecue of the season can’t be much further away, surely.  Ach, who knows though, this Spring’s been all over the bloody shop so Christ knows.

Still, we’re firmly into the first stirrings of Festival Season now which is… erm, well certainly not a bad thing I guess.  There are some fucking shitty festivals (blogs, bands, etc…) out there, and I am becoming distinctly picky in my taste for festivals, and really quite middle-aged.  I do not have the patience for shitty camping and massive green-field sites with fucking dreadful beer, a swampy bog of misdirected urine surrounding the toilets and a two-hour queue for a drink.  Not happening, not any more, not for Toad.  Fuck off.

So, erm yes, the rise of the boutique festival in recent years has been very welcome for me indeed.  The food and drink are infinitely better, the facilities are better, the lineups are a little more focussed and because the budgets are smaller you can be absolutely confident of never, ever, ever accidentally hearing Kasabian play.

And, let’s be entirely honest, there are simply fewer people and I really do not like people all that much.

So, if anyone can tell me what that little rant had to do with anything then there’s probably some sort of prize – amnesty from me hugging you when I’m drunk sounds like a suitable bonus.  So, erm, live in Edinburgh this week then.

Thursday 6th May 2010: Born to Be Wide Music PR Seminar at Electric Circus.

Apart from admin and spare cash, PR is pretty much the single most important function of a record label these days.  It’s also, apart from actually making the music itself, the most important thing for any unsigned band to master.

Thursday 6th May 2010: Hannah Kitchen, The Wee Rogue and The Last Battle play the Leith Tape Club at the IsoLounge.

I don’t know Miss Kitchen, but The Wee Rogue is really excellent, and the Last Battle have just signed up with 17 Seconds records and have a debut album on the way, so should be full of the joys of life at the moment.  Their music leans a little more towards the traditional, in terms of song structures, in comparison to the general landscape of alternative folk around these parts, whereas The Wee Rogue leans a bit closer to total silence, his music can be that still.  It’s compelling nevertheless, so this gig is highly recommended.

The Last Battle – Nature’s Glorious Rage (Fresh Air Session)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thursday 6th May 2010: Dead Boy Robotics, Vasquez and The Foundling Wheel play Limbo at The Voodoo Rooms.

On what is proving to be a rather busy Thursday this gig is Dead Boy Robotics’ EP launch, supported by Vasquez who I don’t know at all, and The Foundling Wheel.  Expect thumping noise, which is likely to veer from the boisterously danceable into the ear-splittingly unhinged.

Friday 7th May 2010: Cath & Phil Tyler, The One Ensemble and Neil Davidson at The Roxy Room.

I know precisely nothing at all about this lineup, sorry.  But it’s a combined promotional effort between Braw Gigs and Tracer Trails (I think – it’s called Braw Trails Presents, so I guess that’s probably right) and those two rarely ever put a foot wrong (new as the former might be) so I definitely think this will be worth checking out.

Saturday 8th May 2010: The Kays Lavelle, The Oates Field and The Scottish Enlightenment at the Wee Red Bar.

This is the Kays’ album launch party for their upcoming debut album Be Still This Gentle Morning, and I am going to be in bloody Manchester for Unconvention, which is hugely frustrating.

The Kays Lavelle – Scars From the City

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Sunday 9th May 2010: 17 Seconds presents X-Lion Tamer, The Wildhouse and The Gothenburg Address at The Roxy Room.

This is curated by 17 Seconds the blog for Tigerfest and is not to be confused with the 17 Seconds Records showcase next week, which is different, apparently.  Although X-Lion Tamer and The Wildhouse are actually on 17 Seconds Records.  But then, without the approval of 17 Seconds the blog, they probably wouldn’t be signed to 17 Seconds the label, would they?  Keep up!

X-Lion Tamer – Life Support Machine

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Phew, what a fucking brain fuck of a weekend that was.  From the house gig (and drinking) on Wednesday night, to the Wide Days conference (with lots of drinking) on Thursday night, to the work night out (with an awful lot of drinking) on Friday and finally the launch night for the new Meursault album on Saturday night (at which there was, somewhat inevitably, an awful lot of drinking) I think that by the time Sunday rolled around I either needed to never drink again, or just embrace it and pour beer on my bloody cornflakes.

Still, the gig was fucking incredible, and we’re pretty much out of the limited editions already.  The sooner those fuckers bugger off on tour so I can get some rest the better.

Friday 16th April 2010: John Knox Sex Club, Deserters Deserve Death & Jocky Venkataraman play TrampolineWee Red Bar.

at the Sex Club?  Fair enough.  Euan wrote about Jocky Venkataraman when he was looking after the site last Summer, and I really liked the sound of him then.

Saturday 17th April 2010: Zoey Van Goey, Chris Bradley & X-Lion Tamer play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms, with 17 Seconds DJs.

A bit of a 17 Seconds Records special at Limbo this week, with Ed DJing and two of his acts on the bill.  It’s an eclectic lineup, with a bit of indie from Zoey Van Goey, some singer-songwritery stuff from Chris Bradley and techno-pop (or whatever, exactly, you’re supposed to call it) from the splendid X-Lion Tamer.  I have to question the hyphenation of the name, however, because it looks a lot to me like Tony is claiming to tame ex-lions, which doesn’t strike me as being all that hard.

X-Lion Tamer – Life Support Machine

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Sunday 18th April 2010: Inspector Tapehead, Natalie Stern & The Japanese War Effort at the Roxy Room.

Inspector Tapehead have agreed to release their (bloody brilliant) debut album on Song, by Toad Records some time around August this year.  I still have no real idea how I am going to pigeonhole their music for the easy consumption of lazy journalists when I send out the promos, but I think ‘fucking ace’ should do the trick.  It will certainly be the jolliest record on the label by some distance.

Inspector Tapehead – A Fillet of Bozo

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Sunday 18th April 2010: Angus & Julia Stone & Alan Pownall at Cabaret Voltaire.

I honestly find Angus & Julia Stone a bit nice for my taste, but you might be keener on that yourselves.  Also of interest is Alan Pownall, who I don’t know that much about, but in The Others has produced a truly gorgeous song:

Alan Pownall – The Others

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Sunday 18th April 2010: Manky Bands at The Hive.

I was given an interesting (and entirely good-natured, don’t worry) dressing down by a fella called Murray, perhaps better known as Edinburgh promoter Manky Bastard, on Thursday.  He was just pointing out that my Drowned in Sound piece on Edinburgh (and this site in general) was pretty narrowly focussed, in terms of genre and the community which it represented and stuff like that.

He’s absolutely right of course, but the trouble is that I really only write about music I like, which means that it is by nature going to be somewhat limited in scope. The problem is that because of being so busy with the expansion of the blog and the label (we’ve recently grown to the status of ‘micro-indie’ apparently – a fine achievement if ever there was one – is there such a thing as smaller than an indie?) that I just haven’t been able to go to gigs at all for almost a year.  You can probably tell this from the decline in live reviews on the site.

This means that I am just not out and about sniffing out new things like I should be, and consequently I know barely a single thing about the bands Murray is so keen on and, to cut a very long story short, he recommended this gig as being a really good representation of the scene he himself is working within at the moment.  That, for me, is as good a reason as any to attend – it’s about time I challenged what I already know I like.

It’s annoying though, because I cannot find the actual fucking lineup written down anywhere.  I think they actually require you to sign into the damn website to see the bloody listings.  And if that is the case then they can fuck off, quite frankly.  Unless I am being dense, in which case the slow onset of old age and the technological paralysis which goes with are encroaching even faster than I thought.

A very good but nevertheless manageable week in Edinburgh this week, with a couple of extremely good gigs coming at the end of the week, but things being relatively calm until then.

I have just about finished editing the videos from the Song, by Toad New Year’s house gig.  I spent all Saturday mixing the audio (under supervision) and now have four Virgin of the Birds videos and four by Jamie and Rory from Broken Records.

All that remains is to check with the bands that they’re happy with what I post, because a couple of the Broken Records songs in particular are very new indeed and might not be for public consumption just yet.  Mind you, they’re acoustic versions, and so different from what the finished band version will probably end up being that it shouldn’t be too controversial, with a bit of luck.

Thursday 21st January 2010: X-Lion Tamer & The Fridge Magnets at Cabaret Voltaire.

X-Lion Tamer might be my favourite band on my friend Ed’s record label, 17 Seconds.  That’s odd really, because Tony’s stuff is probably the least like anything else I might listen to – it’s all a bit techno for my usual whingeing dadrock – but it nevertheless seems to have something about which I find compelling.

X-Lion Tamer – Tugboat

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thursday 21st January 2010: FOUND, eagleowl & Oates Field play Versus at the Voodoo Rooms.

This should be a superbly brilliant night.  FOUND are a bunch of weirdos, frankly, and some of the cleverst and most inventive people I think I may have ever met.  You’d never think it to listen to eagleowl’s carefully constructed stuff, but actually I think their own spirit of adventure is far healthier than is superficially apparent, so it should be a perfect match for this interactive, collaborative Versus format.  Add Alan (formerly of Little Pebble and Come in Tokyo) and Phil (currently of Debutant and Meursault) and you have a pretty fucking incredible lineup.  No chance I’m missing this.

FOUND – Mullokian

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friday 22nd January 2010: The Three Craws & Olo Worms at the Caves.

This is a Fence Night, obviously enough, with Bristolian mentalists Olo Worms joining the Fence elders at what is easily Edinburgh’s most atmospheric venue.  Olo Worms are an incredibly productive and creative bunch, actually, and although I have a patchy relationship with their music I have an awful lot of respect for the energy they put into things and the sheer inventiveness of their work.  Tickets for this can be purchased here.

The Fence Collective – Cod Liver Oil (Live on Radio Scotland)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

And oh, go on, here’s a sneak preview from the Virgin of the Birds videos:

October? Jesus, you must be kidding, that means Autumn and everything. You can feel it in the air actually, and in fact it’s been there for a couple of weeks now. Blech. Booring. Still, dark evenings in with a glass of wine and a record player is a fine way to spend an evening.

I am still absolutely buzzed off my tits after the weekend. Neil from Meursault and Frances Magic Tricks and Pete Leg were recording in the house this weekend and fucking hell it sounds like it’s going to be gorgeous. They’ve put together a nine-song album which, assuming everything gets negotiated cleanly, we will be releasing on 12″ vinyl probably early next year or late this, and it is going to be fucking amazing. I can’t sit still at Proper Job at all – I just want to get home and get the mixing process started.

On the subject of albums, Yusuf Azak is in town this week and has apparently been recording for his debut album for the last while. That also sounds incredibly promising, and I can’t wait to hear stuff from that one either. EXCITING, people! The last six months of the noughties (oh how I hate that phrase) is shaping up to be a really rather excellent one in terms of local music.

After an apparently excellent Versus night last month (which I missed, apologies) the Black Spring gentlemen return Limbo to the Edinburgh gig diary after a two or three month break. They’ve invited Toad favourites Inspector Tapehead through from Glasgow to play, the night after another Toad Records band, Jesus H. Foxx, play at Sneaky’s.

Tuesday 6th October 2009: Casiokids & Stanley Odd at Electric Circus.

Alright, this may not be exactly my bag, but listening to something hip-hoppy with an obvious Scottish accent is downright weird. And besides, if I were to be bored with indie-folk-pop etc etc then this looks like a pretty interesting lineup.

Wednesday 7th October 2009: Kill It Kid, Sparrow & the Workshop & Yusuf Azak at Cabaret Voltaire.

I am curious to see Kill It Kid. I’m not all that convinced by their recorded music, but they are supposed to be phenomenal live, and I can well believe it. It’s been bloody ages since I saw Sparrow & the Workshop too, and Yusuf Azak

Kill It Kid – Send Me an Angel Down

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thursday 8th October 2009: FOUND & Road to Tokyo at the Bowery.

I have been reliably informed that FOUND will be taking this opportunity to give some material from their new album a first airing, so I wouldn’t miss this if I were you.  And given that Come in Tokyo have recently split, this the Road Thereto is going to be the only chance you get to see Allan Pebble wielding an electric guitar with purpose for the foreseeable future.

Friday 9th October 2009: Jesus H. Foxx & the Boycotts play This is Music at Sneaky Pete’s.

I believe it is Jamie from This Is Music’s birthday on Friday, so this one should be raucous.  I don’t know the Boycotts that well, but the Foxx are getting tighter and tighter live, and a sweaty, drinky night like this should be great fun.

Friday 9th October 2009: X Lion Tamer & Devil Disco at the Bongo Club.

You know, it’s been ages since I went to a gig at the Bongo Club.  I like their stage – everyone gets a good view because it’s high and almost in the round – despite the fact that the club itself is more than a little scruffy, so it’s a surprisingly good place to hold a gig.

Saturday 10th October 2009: Inspector Tapehead, Mickey 9s & X in the O play Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms.

Partly it’s good to see Limbo back on the Edinburgh gig calendar, and partly it’s extremely good to see the rhythmic weirdness of Inspector Tapehead back over here.  I don’t know the other two bands, but the Limbo lads are extremely reliable in putting together a good lineup.

Inspector Tapehead – Humdinger

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Saturday 10th October 2009: Micachu & the Shapes at Sneaky Pete’s.

It may be a surprise to see me recommending a band like Micachu, but I saw them at Limbo last year and actually thought they were really good.  There’s a bag of energy in their performance, and they are just melodic enough that I found myself really enjoying them despite it not being a style of music I normally warm to.

There really is no better way to describe X Lion Tamer than in Tony’s own words: “Sounds like the ending credits of low budget 80s teen movies – played on your mate’s Amiga.”

Signed to 17 Seconds Records, X Lion Tamer has two download singles to his name, recently compiled onto a four-track CD EP called Neon Hearts which is, I believe, available in various record shops around Edinburgh.

Every time I write about X Lion Tamer I find myself using the slightly insulting line “I shouldn’t like this”.  It’s not intended to be insulting though, it’s just that listening to the general sound, it’s not really like anything else in my music collection.  The sheer 80s disco-dancing nature of it is the very kind of sound which makes me take something of a step backwards immediately, and yet and yet and yet…

Well what it comes down to is the fact that it’s just infectious as fuck, I guess.  No matter how I want to classify it, it quite simply happens to be incredibly hummable and bouncy.  The songs themselves aren’t exactly frivolous, but the music is jaunty as hell and he has the kind of knack with a tune that means you only have to hear these songs once before you’ll recognise them pretty much instantly, and that’s no mean feat.

X Lion Tamer – Tugboat

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MySpace | More mp3s | Buy from eMusic

This week’s job is the finishing of the Honeytrap Toad Session, preparing the second Toad House Gig for Friday – brilliant brilliant brilliant! – sort of getting ready for the Toad Autumn Party at the Bowery on the 10th (Pineapple Chunky madness, woo!) and getting the Meursault singles pressed and the artwork sorted.  If I am dead by the weekend, do not be surprised.

Fortunately, the start of the week is relatively light on gigs.  Lightish anyway.  Tonight is free, so I should get a chunk done then.  I just fear the traditional upload hell which tends to accompany the finishing of these bloody videos.  Vimeo is a great service in many ways, but the uploading is flaky as fuck and incredibly annoying.  Still, that’s presumably a matter for Friday at 4am, if the FOUND session is anything to go by.

Tuesday 29th September 2009: The Blank Tapes & Magic Leaves at the Bowery.

I really like it when people around me get all giddy about the visit of bands I’ve never heard of – it makes going to a gig that much more exciting.  This is one of those gigs

Wednesday 30th September 2009: Wild Beasts & The Kays Lavelle at Cabaret Voltaire.

These guys are just on the edge of stuff I like – some of it I absolutely love and some I find just a little bit too much.  It’s camp and loose, but they write terrific pop songs nevertheless and I am really looking forward to seeing them live to get a bit more of a clue about their personality as a band.

Wild Beasts – Hooting & Howling

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thursday 1st October 2009: Leith Tape Club at the Iso Lounge, with Animal Magic Tricks and Men Diamler.

The Leith Tape Club is a lovely night, with a small capacity and an initmate atmosphere, and conveniently right around the corner from my work.

Thursday 1st October: Meursault, Three Blind Wolves & Washington Irving at Sneaky Pete’s.

Three Blind Wolves are apparently Ross Clark-related, although I have to confess I know nothing about them.  Washington Irving are another new one on me, but I think we all know quite enough about Meursault by now.

Friday 2nd October 2009: X Lion Tamer & Nite Jewel at Sneaky Pete’s.

I don’t know why I like X Lion Tamer, exactly.  All that synthy 80s pop should be way more than I can handle, but oddly I find myself really enjoying it – basically I suppose because the songs are just incredibly catchy.  Night Jewel, I have to confess, I know almost nothing about.

X Lion Tamer – Neon Hearts

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friday 2nd October: Animal Magic Tricks & Men Diamler play the second Toad House Gig.

These house gigs look like turning into really nice things.  The last one was bloody lovely, and with the lovely Animal Magic tricks and Men Diamler, whose music can be as mental as it can lovely I think this one will be a fantastic night.

Animal Magic Tricks – Smallish Hooves

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friday 2nd October: Trespassers William, Glissando & eagleowl at the Wee Red Bar.

Gizeh Records’ allstar tour comes to Edinburgh, supported by local sorts The Kays Lavelle and eagleowl.  I have to confess I rather feared for eagleowl, who were somewhat threatened by a recent combination of relocation and fornication, but seeing them back playing (superbly) at the Withered Hand EP launch last week has cheered me right up.  They have about seven new songs recorded too, you know.  I’ve no idea what they’re going to do with them, but they have them, which is tantalising, but definitely rather excellent news.

Saturday 3rd October: Kid Canaveral EP launch at the Bowery, with Come On Gang and Cancel the Astronauts.

This lineup is ridiculously indie-pop-tastic, with Edinburgh’s three finest lining up in a show of defiance to all that moany indie-folk shit I insist on listening to.  This stuff is all about the infectiousness of the tunes, and Kid Canaveral are perhaps the most hummable band in the city.  Their new EP is out on download or, erm, tape.  Yes, tape.  Good fucking grief, it’ll be wax cylinders or fucking eight track next.

Kid Canaveral – Couldn’t Dance

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Well this podcast has been recorded from my sick bed, given my current immobility.  Actually, recording the Toadcast from bed was quite pleasant, once I got over the slightly unusual surroundings.  Imagine me in my pants and scratching my balls whilst talking to you and you’ll pretty much have the ambience down pat.

I sort of intended this to be a selection of poppy little tunes from my inbox, because all the last podcasts have been so heavily themed, but instead it’s ended up a little bit on the experimental side, through no real intent of my own.  Nevertheless, if you’re happy to listen to the growl of Polvo, the monologues of George Pringle and the peculiar electro-experimentalism of Mark Linkous and Fennesz all in one podcast then, fuck it, you’re in the right place.

Toadcast #86 – The Paincast

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

01. Langhorne Slim – I Love You But Goodbye (03.11)
02. Cast Spells – Glamorous Glowing (07.39)
03. The Pineapple Chunks – Art Storage (13.02)
04. The Leg – A Rat’s Health (17.04)
05. Polvo – Fractured (Like Chandeliers) (22.40)
06. Vandaveer – A Might Leviathan of Old (29.22)
07. Sparklehorse & Fennesz – If My Heart (from In the Fishtank #13) (40.13)
08. George Pringle – SW10 (45.03)
09. X Lion Tamer – Tugboat (52.40)
10. Kurt Vile – Blackberry Song (59.54)

You could drink yourself into a coma going to every interesting gig in Edinburgh this week.  I think I might need a few orange juice gigs, if just to vaguely preserve both liver and waistline.  Although it may be too late for both, I have to admit.  I think I am going to start driving to gigs (tonight is by necessity, but we’ll see how it goes) just as a way of forcing myself to stick to fizzy water or some such beverage.

Maybe Skinny Water, perhaps (thank you Cogstar), a drink so monumentally stupid that I have stared at that ridiculous primary school website for hours trying to figure out if the damn thing is a hoax or not.  It’s so ridiculous I keep thinking that it really must be a piss-take, but it really does appear to be water laced with imaginary weight-reducing ingredients.

As their website claimed*, the water “has been enhanced with a unique combination of ingredients to help you lose weight… suppress appetite, block carbohydrates from converting into fat and increase fat burning”.

This website, on the other hand, claims that this is most ludicrous pile of horse manure to hit the public domain in ages.  Although, thinking about it, this product is so transparently idiotic that I find it hard to blame the manufacturers, or the designers of that comedy website.  Honestly, if you are so fucking stupid as to fall for this sort of infantile idiocy then you deserve to be ripped off and, honestly, you deserve the continuing cycle of desperate, futile hope followed by the despair of inevitable failure and decimated self-esteem that this sort of obsessive weight mania will certainly bring you.  Jesus fucking Christ, if you’re too fat (which I am) then either just accept it and enjoy your life, or get some fucking exercise.

Monday 7th September 2009: The Bowery Re-Opening Party with Dan Costello & Wounded Knee.

I have missed the Bowery over the Festival.  Somewhere sane to go would have been appreciated in amongst all the carnage, but Jane and Ruth are back now and celebrate that fact tonight.

Tuesday 8th September 2009: The Pineapple Chunks & X Lion Tamer at Electric Circus.

How these two rather mental bands are going to complement one another on a bill is anyone’s guess, but I really like both and am definitely looking forward to this – unhinged guitar indie and dancey electro stuff.  And incidentally, X Lion Tamer has a new EP out, called Neon Hearts, which is available in Avalanche Records on Cockburn Street as of right about now.

The Pineapple Chunks – Art Storage

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Wednesday 9th September 2009: Willard Grant Conspiracy & Doghouse Roses at Sneaky Pete’s.

The Willard Grant Conspiracy are one of my favourite bands ever.  Robert Fisher’s voice is deep and rich, and his songs go from the desperate ballad to lovely alt-country to grinding tension, often in the same album.  There is no chance I am missing this gig.

Willard Grant Conspiracy – Evening Mass

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thursday 10th September 2009: Meursault vs Dead Boy Robotics vs Foundling Wheel at the Voodoo Rooms.

Versus gigs are a bit risky in some senses – how to keep the pace up without garbling things, how to get enough interplay between the bands to stop it simply being a standard gig with a shuffled playlist, all sorts of things – but I love the idea in general.  The styles on show this evening are pretty varied too, which I think is a good thing.

Friday 11th September 2009: Neko Case at the Voodoo Rooms.

Neko Case has, simply, one of the most gorgeous voices around.  I’ve seen her live before and she is lovely – charismatic, charming and a superb performer.  There’s a lot on this Friday, so I don’t know if I’m likely to be able to make it, but I really want to go to this.

Neko Case – Tightly

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friday 11th September 2009: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Come On Gang & Dupec play This is Music at Sneaky Pete’s.

Totally Enormous what? Fucking hell, you really should go for the name alone.  This is Music nights are brilliant fun, and this is just that kind of carefree, enjoyable lineup which makes them good.

Saturday 12th September 2009: The Jesus H. Foxx EP Launch at the Bowery, with Some Young Pedro & Golden Ghost.

YES, the offical Song, by Toad Records release of Matter, by Jesus H. Foxx!  I don’t know why I ever even wanted to be a record label, but one of the reasons was to be involved with, and make a contribution to, music which I bloody love.  I am absolutely thrilled to have this EP on the label and really looking forward to the launch night.  I’ve never seen either Some Young Pedro or Golden Ghost before either, so even more room to be excited.

Jesus H. Foxx – Trying to Be Good

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

*Until people pointed out that it was total bollocks and they decided to change it.

I think this week may be very tricky for me indeed in terms of gig attendance.  Clients here at Proper Job have just this very afternoon ‘re-strategised’ a pretty significant piece of work so I will probably spend the week working late into the night on what I am actually paid to do for a change, rather than just writing posts and editing video for the entertainment of you bastards.

Still, it’s been a hectic as all fuck August, and I am actually kind of glad it’s over.  Not because of Festival hatred or anything, just sheer tiredness.  And The Bowery is back with us as of next Monday as well, which is bloody brilliant news.

Monday 31st August2009: Jeffrey Lewis & Withered Hand at Cabaret Voltaire.

Anti-folk legends old and new at Cabaret Voltaire tonight.  These two have actually got really similar styles – bleakness and cynicism made brilliant by wit and warmth.

Jeffrey Lewis – Banned From the Roxy

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tuesday *!*8th*!* September 2009: X Lion Tamer at Electric Circus.

Erm, sorry everyone, this is next Tuesday apparently.

X Lion Tamer – Life Support Machine

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thursday 3rd September 2009: Aidan Moffat & the Best-Ofs & Rick Redbeard at The Bongo Club.

I’ve said this a dozen times before and I will say it again: Rick Redbeard is fucking brilliant.  Anyone who likes the kind of hushed Americana played by the likes of the Willard Grant Conspiracy, Smog or Bonnie Prince Billy really should go and see him play.  And that Moffat character’s rather decent too.

Rick Redbeard – Dreams of the Trees

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Saturday 5th September 2009: Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit), Withered Hand & Danny from Chutes at Electric Circus.

I don’t know much about Chutes – they’ve been working on new recordings recently, apparently, so not playing live as much – but I know the other two pretty well in terms of their musical output and a quiet solo show from either Scott or Dan would be worth making the trip for.  Put the lot together and you have an absolutely brilliant lineup, if you ask me.

Frightened Rabbit – Poke (Live)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

So August is almost upon us. Traditionally –  or at least for as long as I’ve been living here – most bands and promoters in Edinburgh tend to just take the month off and make way for the festival. It’s a bit of a monolith. Every available venue (and most non-venue) space is booked up months in advance, and with so much happening every single day in August, it becomes rather difficult for smaller operations putting on shows. Of course there are exceptions – a lot of the bigger clubs just keep on trucking, and nights like Acoustic Edinburgh embrace the Fringe and put on shows as part of the official line-up.

This year, though – more so than any I can remember – seems to be bucking that trend. There’s a lot of activity going on outside of the festival – and lots of local bands and promoters putting on shows regardless. Which is great to see – another indication of the strength and confidence of the city’s musical community at the moment. I thought I’d give a run down of what’s caught my eye – as with so much on, it’s entirely possible for an amazing show to slip by un-noticed.

The Edge

Firstly, the musical leg of the Fringe – the Edge – has some really great shows this year. The Mum show may have been moved to Glasgow, but we still have David Byrne, Woodpigeon, Andrew Bird, Frightened Rabbit, Malcolm Middleton, and Jeffrey Lewis. And judging by the website, the festival seems to have just absorbed all the shows at Sneaky Pete’s – including Sleeping States (who I can’t recommend highly enough), Monotonix, Sparrow and the Workshop, the usual This is Music night and the mysteriously titled ‘Songs By Toad night’. It’s also great to see some Edinburgh bands forming part of the Edge line-up – with Broken Records at the Queens Hall, a double header from Unicorn Kid and Young Fathers at Cab Vol, and support slots from Meursault (at Frightened Rabbit), the Kays Lavelle (the Lost Brothers) and Withered Hand (Jeffrey Lewis). It’s something that I’ve felt was lacking in previous line-ups, and it’s a step in the right direction.

www.theedgefestival.com

Retreat!

Then, of course, there’s the ‘other’ festival. Retreat! is an all day event at the Bristo Hall on Sunday the 16th. 15 acts (Meursault, Withered Hand, Rob St. John, Tissø Lake, the Leg…), and DJs till 3am. Free entry. I can’t think of a better line-up. But then again, I did help pick it.

www.myspace.com/edinburghretreat

Trampoline

Trampoline are also putting on four shows over first two weekends, and really great line-ups including Adam Stafford (Y’all Is Fantasy Island), Jonnie Common (Down The Tiny Steps), Animal Magic Tricks, Conquering Animal Sound, Golden Ghost and Woodenbox.

www.myspace.com/trampolineuk

Bang Bang Club

Normally at the Speakeasy in Cabaret Voltaire, the Bang Bang Club is hosting a series of shows upstairs in the Teviot Hall. Highlights include Clinic, the Pineapple Chunks, Paul Vickers and the Leg, and a series of soundtrack events from Steven Severin.

www.myspace.com/bangbangclubedinburgh

Playing With The Past

There’s also an exclusive second screening of the Playing with the Past event from this year’s film festival on 22^nd August, with eagleowl, FOUND and Meursault performing live soundtracks to old Scottish films. Tickets are available now from the Filmhouse website or box office.

www.myspace.com/playingwiththepast

Cybraphon

FOUND – not willing to give up their ‘hardest working band in Edinburgh’ tag to Meursault just yet – also have a residency at InSpace (a gallery space – part of the new University building) with their Cybraphon project, including a live band performance on the 13^th (which is free but ticketed). It seems to be some kind of automated musical cupboard, containing a series of musical instruments, which reacts to online activity about the project in real time. Or something. For a more coherent explanation, try the Cybraphon site:

www.cybraphon.com

Leith Tape Club

Okay, strictly speaking not an Edinburgh show – but a nice trip out of the city is normally always welcome around the third week in August. Leith Tape Club at the Iso Bar continues in August on the 20^th, with a rather special all-star line-up including the Kays Lavelle and Meursault (solo, I think).

Leith Tape Club

National Portrait Gallery

There’s also a series of rather exclusive shows at the National Portrait Gallery, whilst the gallery is closed for a refurbishment. These include Rob St. John and Emily Scott on 8^th August, X-LionTamer on 21^st August, St Jude’s Infirmary and Zoey Van Goey on 22^nd August, and Withered Hand and Meursault on 29^th August.

National Portrait Gallery

Electric Circus

There’s been some great gigs in Electric Circus since it opened earlier this year, and they don’t seem to be losing any momentum in August, with shows from FOUND, Dent May, White Heath and Rob St. John (1st), Jesus H. Foxx (11th), The Phantom Band (19th), and Trembling Bells and Ben Reynolds (25th), amongst others.

Electric Circus

The Golden Hour

A blend of poetry, music and live visuals at the Forest Cafe on 19th August, with performances from Billy Liar and Withered Hand.

The Golden Hour

Shipping Forecast Garden Party

And I think there’s another shipping forecast garden party scheduled for 30^th August, with Come On Gang!

No details yet, but I’m sure Dave will keep us posted.

It is all pretty exciting. Please spam the comments with anything I’ve missed, as I’m sure there’s loads, and if any more are announced or come to light over the course of the month, it’ll no doubt make it’s way into the weekly listings.

Sleeping States – September, Maybe

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Woodpigeon – In Praise of the West Midlothian Bus Service

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Zoey Van Goey – City Is Exploding

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.