We've Got It Covered #87

First off apologies for the lack of a Friday Freebies post yesterday, a combination of going to the Twilight Sad and a teething baby meant that I just plain old ran out of time. Fear not though as it will be a double roll over next week. Anyway, that's enough apologies for one week, onwards and upwards with this weeks We've Got It Covered post which focuses on some of the Scottish artists that have been selected to play at this years South By South West (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. I appreciate that a lot of you will already know some of the bands who have been chosen to play, as most of them had already self-announced that they'll be going, but I just thought that seeing as the official announcement has been made I'd give you a run down of the eleven Scottish bands, DJs and producers who are going to be showcasing at this years event. The bands representing our wee nation at the two Scottish showcases in March will be French Wives, Hudson Mohawke, Django Django, Jackmaster, Tango in the Attic, Three Blind Wolves, The Twilight Sad, Twin Atlantic, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Woodenbox and The Xcerts

You can make your own mind up whether you reckon that this is the best that Scotland has to offer, and although I guess it could be argued that SXSW might well seem like it'd be a lot of fun to go to, at the end of the day it is an industry event and the above bands are probably the most 'market-ready' bunch that we have.

French Wives - Blue Boy (Orange Juice cover)

The Twilight Sad - Ravishing Rick Rude/Be Less Rude (Frightened Rabbit Cover)

We Were Promised Jetpacks-Blindsided (Bon Iver cover)

Woodenbox - Bad Romance (Lady Gaga cover)

Errors - Marc Riley Session (08/02/12)

Track Listing

1. Pleasure Palaces
2. Blank Media
3. Tusk

Download

The Twilight Sad - Marc Riley Session (07/02/12)

Track Listing

1. Don’t Move
2. Alphabet 
3. Another Bed

Download

Rachel Sermanni - BBC Radio 2 Session (04/02/12)

Track Listing

1. Breathe Easy

2. I Want You Back (Jackson 5 cover)

Download

The Twilight Sad - Vic Galloway Session (06/02/12)

Track Listing

1. Don't Move

2. Alphabet

3. Another Bed

Download

Fresh Meat Monday - Kith and Kin

Would you care to introduce yourself?  

I am Liam Cairns, the lead singer and songwriter for the band Kith & Kin.  


How would you describe the music you make?  

I guess it's a mix of different things. Thematically I try to use 'life' and 'experiences' as well as films and novels as inspiration for lyrical content. Stylistically I take a lot of influence American folk, 60s pop and rock. Specific artists and bands that influence me would go from Radiohead and Bon Iver to The Beatles, John Martyn and Nick Drake.   


How did you start out making music?  

I started writing songs in 2005 in school and looked for a band when I got to uni. We formed Kith & Kin in November 2009 under a different name, the name (Kith & Kin) came about 6 months ago.   


What process goes into the way you write songs?  

I don't know if I have a 'process' but the catalyst for ideas can come from anything just a wee bit of inspiration from a phrase or a melody and then it just kind of snowballs into a song, other times I'll have a specific event or scenario that I'll want to write about from the outset.   


What can people expect from your live shows?  

A good, fun, high energy show with some quiet bits in between.   


What are you all listening to at the moment?  

I'm not sure about the rest of the band but I've been listening to a lot of James Yorkston, King Creosote and Jon Hopkins album and also Midlake.   


What can we expect to see/hear from you in the future?  

Well this year we'll hopefully have some EPs coming out and some bigger shows and maybe some summer fests as well.


Kith & Kin - Birds


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We've Got It Covered #86

When it comes to these weekly over posts I often find myself in a bit of a quandary as to what to write about, quite often I find myself just rambling about things that I have been up to during week. More often than not I just use these posts as a platform to mention a gig or a release that's coming up and other occasions it's all about me me me. If you're expecting something different this week then you're going to be a bit disappointed, which is also how I felt this morning to find out the news that BBC Scotland are planning to axe Janice Forsyth’s Saturday morning show. Once again the big wigs at the beeb are planning on scrapping yet another outlet for good music. What with everything that's gone on with 6Music and the current issues facing BBC Introducing, this is yet another kick in the proverbials for music fans and even importantly for the Scottish music scene. So if you could spare two minutes of your time to go and sign this petition to save the show from being replaced by more news and sport, it would be really appreciated.

On a more happier note the new Twilght Sad album, No One Can Ever Know, comes out on Monday, and even more importantly for me, I am getting to see them at the Grand Ole Opry in Glasgow. It's been an age since I last saw Kilsyth's favourite sons in action so I am really looking forward to this one. As if that wasn't enough the next night myself and The Pop Cop are heading through to Edinburgh to catch the Frabbit boys. Anyway, that's enough of ramblings for one week (don't say you weren't warned), here's the Sad's take on the INXS song Never Tear Us Apart, which if memory serves me right, the boys recorded after having watch Donnie Darko umpteem times.



The Twilight Sad - Never Tear Us Apart (INXS cover)

Friday Freebies

Invisibles
On my hunt for freebies to share with you all I quite often find myself 'favouriting' tweets that mention free downloads from Scottish bands that might be worth checking out. Most of the time I tend to find something that I like or think's half decent, other times there's stuff that just that bad that I can't bring myself to write anything about it. So earlier in the week when I read about Invisibles, a collective conceived by JP Reid of Sucioperro and Marmaduke Duke fame, I did find myself pre-judging the songs. "They'll not be my cup of tea" I thought, how wrong I was, as this my friend is fucking banging. Fans of folk Fuck Buttons and Union of Knives, actually anyone who likes music should really check this out. Oh and it's not technically a freebie, it's one of those pay what you want deals, either way check it out.

Tall Tales
In case you didn't get the memo, The Social Services changed their name to Tall Tales a wee while back, thankfully though they've not lost any of their charm. The Glasgow based quartet have just released their new EP 'All we can do is sing', which is sure to warm the cockles during these freezing cold nights. You can help yourself to a free download of the EP over on their Bandcamp page.

Le Thug
What with everything I get sent these days, it can be pretty tough to try and give it all the attention that it deserves, I quite simply don't have the time anymore. More often than not I find myself judging whether I like something or not within a couple of listens. One of the things that will make me pay more interest is when I get sent something that's a bit different to what I would normally listen to. One such artist that pricked my attention this week were ambient Glasgow duo, Le Thug, who have just posted up a whole load of demos/possibly a mini album, I'm not sure. All you need to know that songs are free to download here.

Sean Armstrong 
Not content with being one of the most talked about bands in Scotland at the moment, those pesky boys from PAWS are also involved in running their own tape based label, CATH Records. Not only do they love using their Caps Lock button, they also love their lo-fi music, which is all good with me. The latest offering from the label comes from a fella by the name of Sean Armstrong, who's got a whopping 22 tracks available for free download on the CATH Records Bandcamp page. Veering from quiet Daniel Johnston-esq tunes, to full on bat shit crazy experimental tunes, there's some great suff on here that's well worth exploring.

Scottish Fiction 
First we had Kowalskiy giving away monthly free EPs, now we get spoiled twice a month with fellow blogger Scottish Fiction getting in on the action. If you fancy some free tunes from A Band Called Quinn, Bottle of Evil, Mickey 9's and Blank Canvas then all you need to do is head on over to Bandcamp and download January's compilation for free.

Proto Idiot
Another week and yet another freebie from one of my favourite sources of DIY pop music, Odd Box Records. If you miss the Moldy Peaches then you might want to check out this free download only single from the forthcoming Proto Idiot album 'Idiot Proto'.


Drunk Mule
How I managed to overlook this free download from Drunk Mule I'll never know. Yes boys and girls, they're giving away yet another free tune, I don't know about you, but I can barely keep up with them these days. This one's called 'Las Vegas Divorces' and it might well be their best yet.

Wild Nothing
Next month sees Virginia's indie-pop outfit releasing the follow up to 2010's Golden Haze EP.  As a wee prelude of what to expect you can download their new single, "Nowhere", for free over on Stereogum.


Blindfolds
If you're looking something a bit down and dirty, then Glasgow four-piece, Blindfolds, might well be right up your street. The Rock & Roll/ Psychedelic blues outfit have made their track Taste Young Blood available as a free download on their SoundCloud page. If you like what you hear then you can catch them live next month at King Tuts on the 22nd of March when they supporting 'The Minutes'.