Track Listing 1. King Creosote – Curtain Craft 2. King Creosote – It Means Nothing 3. King Creosote – Nothing Rings True 4. King Creosote – Coast On By 5. Pictish Trail – You Covered The Earth With Your Thumb 6. Pictish Trail – Going Gone 7. Pictish Trail – Ribbon 8. Pictish Trail – Words Fail Me Now 9. Player Piano – Mercy 10. Player Piano – Anything At All 11. Player Piano – Mad Dog 12. Player Piano - Backwards Invention 13. King Creosote/Player Piano/Pictish Trail - La De Da 14. King Creosote/Player Piano/Pictish Trail - Cod Liver Oil and Orange Juice
Track Listing 1. Better Things 2. Make Light 3. Let Your Love Grow Tall 4. Folds in Your Hands 5. Moth's Wings 6. Sleepyhead 7. Smile Upon Me 8. The Reeling
Track Listing 1. The Dark Of The Matinée 2. No You Girls 3. Do You Want To 4. Turn It On 5. Michael 6. Walk Away 7. Bite Hard 8. Take Me Out 9. What She Came For 10. The Fallen 11. 40' 12. Outsiders 13. Jacqueline 14. Ulysses 15. Lucid Dreams 16. This Fire
****Funny where these things end up, it's now up on Pitchfork, although the feckers haven't mentioned where they got it from. Thieving gits that they are.****
I first came across Yahew on Under the Radars first podcast, to be honest it wasn't the kind of music that I would normally be into, but there was something that sucked me in, that and the fact that I had no idea how to actually pronounce their name (yes I know I'm a tit). But now I know how to pronounce it I am more than happy to go with it (much like when you're abroad and you don't feel confident in asking for things, thankfully though I have Nic to do that for me), anyway, as per usual I am rambling. So what are they like, well they have been heralded as being being a lo-fi Boards of Canada, but as I am a bit of an ignoramus on BoC I'll take folks word for it. The first time I listened to the album it was like I was on some kind of crazy trip, that might have been because I was drinking on my own in the back garden, but then again I like to think it was the music. There were points that reminded me of the first Reindeer Section album, for which I guess i will be the only be the only one that hears it, but hey we all take different things from what we listen to. Again I'm rambling, so probably the best thing for you to do is listen to 'Glasgow Smiles Better' below, it is a truly amazing song, love it, seriously listen to it, then please come back and tell me I'm right, either that or just tell me I'm a stupid c*** and I don't know what I'm talking about. If you like what you hear then go buy the album, you can pick it up through their Myspaz or in Avalanche, it comes in a nicely wrapped brown paper bag, so if you're a yanky doodle dandy you can liken it too booze, if you're Scottish then you might liken it buying porn ya dirty pervs that you are.
If you read all of this I apologise, there really should be a breathalyser on my PC that blocks me after a couple of drinks. Please just check them out, the albums great, unlike my writing skills.
You can catch them at the Captains Rest on the 1st of July, or even better go and see them on the 16th of July at the V Club with rather ace Apples of Energy.
This week I have been getting a little excited about the imminent release of their debut album by Discovery, why? well it's a side project of Vampire Weekend's keyboardist, Rostam Batmanglij, and Ra Ra Riot's frontman Wes Miles. Personally, I always thought that Ra Ra Riot were the better of the two bands, shows what I know about what's popular I guess.
Anyway, more importantly what do they sound like? well obviously they both bring different bits of their respective bands to the table, but there is the added dash of computer game bleeps, mixed with synthesisers, some songs would even fit nicely on the new Passion Pit album. Their debut album is released on the 6th of July, I've still to hear it, but having listened to some of it on their homepage I am getting pretty excited.
I’ve never been to a gig and came away being able to say that it was almost as mobbed outside as it was inside. That was until Sunday. It was the musical equivalent of this Indian train. But anyway, other than the heat, the lack of space and the B.O. it was a great performance by the Rabbit. With Ross Clark on mandolin, they stomped their through Old, Old Fashioned to begin. Once Ross had toddled off, they continued with a selection from both Sing The Greys and Midnight Organ Fight. Sadly, there was no Square 9 but we did get to hear a new song titled Swim Until You Cant See Land (previously uploaded on here). It’s been stuck in my head since.
The main set finished with the Keep Yourself Warm, in which Scott was almost completely drowned out at times by the crowd. When I first heard Frightened Rabbit, I never thought of them as being one of those bands that would have mass sing-alongs at their gigs, but going by this showing I was completely wrong. Choruses are belted out with vigour, verses with enthusiasm and high bits with no discernable melody or fine tuning whatsoever. It often grates (the ‘it’s a choo choo train, a rocket launch’ lyric regularly requires insertion of earplugs) but sounds glorious on occasion (‘ma hole, ah’ll get ma hole!’). Following this was a one song encore of Poke, which Scott performed solo from the balcony. The perfect ending I’d say. Hopefully they’ll have some more new stuff ready for the Queens Hall in Edinburgh.
Thanks to the very nice Mr Popcop (thanks again mate) I got the chance to escape work early on Wednesday to witness the first live outing of Stuart Murdoch's 'God Help the Girl' and a very fine afternoon it was too. Held in the unusual setting of the Lansdowne Parish Church Hall in Glasgow's West End, the band performed 6 songs from their debut album (out on Monday, so go and buy it kids) this was a very intimate gig with any array of folk from the Glasgow music scene, family and friends (with babies) plus me and the wife. They even laid on tea and cakes for the afternoon, all in all it was one of the best gigs I've been to this year, even though it was so short. so thanks Popcop for being my Jim'll Fix It, this post is for you...
Track Listing 1. Monsterpussy (excerpt) 2. The Day I Was a Horse 3. Molly's Lips 4. Oliver Twisted 5. Jesus Don't Want Me For A Sunbeam 6. Lovecraft 7. Slushy 8. No Hope 9. Sex sux 10. Dying For It 11. Rory Rides Me Raw 12. You Think You're A Man 13. Dum-Dum
With less than two weeks to go until the start of the first ever Insider Festival, things seem to be hotting up in the Highlands, with the line up nearly finalised, the main organiser Walter Micklethwait takes us through what treats they've got in store....
"Lau have been described as a formidable union of three of the finest and most innovative exponents of moder traditional music in Scotland today. We think that probably undersells them... We are absolutely delighted to welcome, as very special guests, Kris Drever, Martin Green and Aidan O'Rourke. Together they have released two highly acclaimed albums, toured widely and received the honour of being named 'Group of the Year' at the BBC Radio2 Folk Awards... the last 2 years running!
Winner of the Danny Kyle Open Stage at Celtic Connections 2008, John comes across as a raucous combination of Gypsy folk troubadour and the most energetic barnstorming busker you ever did hear.
Drawing comparisons with the likes of Belle and Sebastian, The Pogues and Arcade Fire, the Washington Irving Steamer is gathering pace and we're glad to be on board!
Glasgow's premier Scottish/Welsh/American 3-piece, formed under the heavy fog of yeast from the Tennents Factory. Recent accolades include BBC Radio2 single of the week, and bronze in the 2008 Womens World Stone-Skimming Championships.
Having progressed somewhat from early experiments in banging canisters for kicks, mitchell museum tread a heady psychedelic path that recalls the creative arc of bands like Animal Collective, Flaming Lips and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
All the way from smoggy London (innit) The Storm of 83 play a brooding brand of rock n roll, as well as hosting their own night down south where they get awesome bands along, then nick all their good ideas. Expect tears, lightning and kick abouts in the garden.
For those familiar with the 10 piece ska legion that is Bombskare, no introduction is necessary. For everyone else... where the hell have you been? Saturday night is skank night!
Electronic acoustic may be a contradiction in terms, but so is raw stew and we all know how good that is. Actually wait, not a good analogy. Laki Mera make some of the most beautiful electronic backed acoustic music this side of Portishead's most haunting moments.
With influences ranging from ESG and Captain Beefheart to Pythagoras and his Theorem Ensemble (very popular c500 BC), Isosceles play uplifting angular guitar pop that has earned them supporting slots with, amongst others, Franz Ferdinand.
Pastoral and delicate, Will's debut album, A Beautiful Sunday is "A beautiful collection of songs performed with a delicacy and fragility that is truy heart-warming", or so say NME. Perfect Sunday afternoon soundtracked for frazzled minds? We think so...
A true luminary of the Scottish folk scene, whether fiddling with Celtic stalwarts Capercaillie or Session A9, Charlie is as well respected a musician as your likely to find at any party this year. And the festival is taking place practically in his back garden so he can make as much noise as he likes!
“One of the most likeable live bands you can witness in Scotland at the moment, their touching lo-fi electronic nuances give us all a reason to look to the future with a glint in our eyes.” – The Herald
Sorren Mclean.
A wonderful Highland musician who has been gathering popular and critical acclaim over the last few years, albeit in a typically Scottish 'under-the-radar' manner...
Without doubt, Glasgow's number one party DJ of choice, having supported an insane amount of world-class hip-hop and electronic acts over the years. Part of hugely influential, cutting edge Numbers crew.
Bringing a refreshing splash of electronica to the proceedings, Reaz will be treating us to a very special live set, on a Boards of Canada tip... we might even persuade him to throw up some funk in the DJ bowl.
Small Tall & Bakewell
The Insiders own crack superDJ assault squad. Watch yirself."
A limited number of tickets are still available here
These guys are a bunch of noisy feckers. They're from Glasgow and have been around since 2005, though have went through a number of lineup changes since. Anyway, they've got the whole post-rock-with-vocals thing going on, and remind me of Sonic Youth at times as well - though I don't know if the Sonic Youth idea is maybe just something planted in my head because of their name - and it's pretty good stuff.
There's have an album due out in the next few months (although no release date yet, once there is we'll let you know) and this here is a short collection of tracks which aren't being used, as well as one remix by theapplesofenergy. It's cracking stuff so I'm looking forward to it. Have a listen for yourselves.
In case you aren't already aware, tickets for the inaugural Insider Festival are now on on sale, actually they've been on sale for about a week now and seem to be selling pretty rapidly. tickets are a very reasonable £40 and are available from the Insider Homepage.
If you don't fancy 'slumming it' in a normal tent then you can live a life of luxury in your own Yurt (I had to google what this is), apparently it's a portable, felt-covered, wood lattice-framed dwelling structure used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia (see you learn something new every day). If you you just can't live without the comfort of a bed then Aviemore is only 4 miles away, which will cost you about £12 at night by taxi.
The line up still has a few additions to be made to it, so far they have the following lined up:-
The artist formerly known as T on the Fringe has announced it's line-up for this years festival, taking place between the 8th to the 27th of August this years line up will bring the following acts to the Scottish Capital
David Byrne, The Streets, Calvin Harris, The Stranglers, Enter Shikari, Broken Records, Amanda Palmer, EmilianaTorrini, The Bluetones, Frightened Rabbit, Andrew Bird, Malcolm Middleton, Múm, Mumford & Sons, Young Fathers, Unicorn Kid, Foy Vance, SOMA Night and the Your Sound Showcase.
Dates and the like have still to be announced, just check their website later in the day, although surely if you announce that details are going live at 2pm today, you'd think that they might have gotten round to this already, ho hum. Anyway, what do you think? Personally I am not too excited, the only one I would have gone too is Frightened Rabbit, which we've known about for ages, and I can't go too (STOP PRESS - just checked and FR got their dates wrong, they're playing the 18th, not the 21st as previously stated, which means I can now go, my day has just been made, tickets here) Apart from that there's nothing too spectacular that stands out as having the wow factor.
There Will Be Fireworks have been on my radar for a while now, although unsigned the band are soon to release their eponymous album onto an unsuspecting public next month. They very kindly took a few minutes out of their time to answer some questions for me.
Would you care to introduce yourselves?
Hello, we are Nicholas McManus (guitar, vocals, other stuff), Gibran Farrah (guitar, violin, other stuff), David Madden (bass, whale noises) and Adam Ketterer (drums, glockenspiel). We are all from Glasgow en Ecosse.
How did you come up with the band name?
I don't think any of us can properly remember. We were round at our chum Danny's house and we'd had a few beverages. The next day we all woke up with "There Will Be Fireworks" in our phone inboxes. We are so unimaginative when it comes to nomenclature that it just stuck. I don't know if it really has any meaning that we have long since forgotten, but I'd like to think it does.
What artists would you say have had the biggest influence on the band?
Hmm... We've never tried to consciously sound like another band and we all have quite varied musical tastes.So I hesitate to speak on behalf of everybody but I reckon Bright Eyes, Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, At the Drive-In, Cocteau Twins, Neutral Milk Hotel have all had varying degrees of influence. And other stuff that won't necessarily be immiediately apparent, like Fionn Reagan and Iron and Wine.
Is this something that you would like to make a living out of?
I really don't know. I mean, yes - but the chances are ridiculously slim and we don't have any delusions that we'll be cruising about in Ferraris wearing velvet smoker jackets just because we can play guitar a bit. We all do other stuff and the band is really just a glorified hobby for us. I think we all quite like it that way. It doesn't mean we're less serious about it or less good, and we don't hold anything back of ourselves in the writing/recording process; however, it does mean that we can work at whatever pace we choose and can do more or less whatever we want. Money hasn't been a motivating factor; we've just wanted to write songs that we like. Money would be nice, though. We accept donations, thankyouplease.
You recorded your debut album out at the Old Mill Studios in Strathaven, how did that come about?
Our first ever recording session was at Old Mill in December 2007. Madden, the bassist, had been researching places and thought that the Mill looked nice because it has a beautiful ampitheatre and was built in the 17th Century and everything. He phoned Marshall Craigmyle - the Mill's hirsute owner/engineer/wizard - and they had a wee chat and bonded over a love of the Twilight Sad. So we went there and did three songs (one of which has been slightly reworked and is on the album) and absolutely fell in love with the place and, even more so, fell in love with Marshall. After having such a good time (and a productive time) we knew that when it came to do the album, there was nowhere else we would go. So aye, we went back over te period of a year to do the album, and as we got more and more savvy production-wise, the Mill became more and more important. It is a little bit of heaven in Strathaven, albeit a little bit smelly, is ludicrously cheap for what is on offer, and I would recommend it to anyone, ever.
You are releasing the album yourselves, how hard was it for you to go about dealing with all the various aspects such as costs, promotion, etc?
We're still dealing with these aspects! Eek. It's not been too difficult, and not actually too costly. It can get a bit tiresome though because me and AK (drums) do pretty much all the boring administrative stuff - we spend a lot of time emailing people. We paid for all the recording ourselves: that was the most expensive thing overall, but we are all thrifty savers and the price was stupidly cheap for the amount of hours we spent in the studio. We got the CDs pressed by a company in London, and it wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be. The artwork was all done by us using photographs taken by a friend, so there was no financial outlay there. We haven't done any promotion at all. We probably should though. Promotion wise, all we've done is pay a graphic artist £20 to make a poster.
You have been gaining a lot of buzz on various music blogs, how do you feel about being labelled as a ‘buzz band’?
Well, we're not really aware of it, so it's quite nice if that is the case. We want people to hear our stuff and enjoy it, and if people feel motivated enough to blog about us then that is wickedcool.
Have you started to attract attention from any labels and is this something that you would welcome?
Nothing concrete, but we've heard very tentative whisperings. We haven't really sent demos out or anything like that. Would we welcome it? Yes, I reckon we would, but only if it was right for us and if they would pay us in Ferraris and velvet smoker jackets.
Favourite venue (played/would like to play)?
I think the favourite we've played is King Tuts. Gibs really like the Oran Mor though. Would like to play: Wembley. Failing that, I have always wanted to play at the Barrowlands. Failing that, the Osprey pub in Newton Mearns.
Are there any local bands you would recommend I check out?
Yup - all our friends - We Hung Your Leader, Lions.Chase.Tigers, Endor, I See Shapes.
Where and when can I get my mucky paws on the album?
From July 1, in theory. You can get it straight in your mucky paws at the launch gig in Nice 'n' Sleazy. Or, you can get it through our myspace and we'll get it to you within a day or two. Or, at some indeterminate date shortly thereafter, you can get it on itunes and all the other usual downloading suspects.
Lastly, what’s next for There Will Be Fireworks?
On the immediate horizon, we've started work on new songs which we hope will be on the next album. We've got two in the bag. We have a gig on June 24 in Oran Mor for the West End Festival. And, on July 1 we have the aforementioned album launch gig in Nice 'n' Sleazy, where we will be joined by We Hung Your Leader and Lions.Chase.Tigers in a veritable musical extravaganza. Then, we will hopefully be mailing the album to lots of mucky paws. And we have a gig in Edinburgh soon and the possibility of a wee tour. Stay tuned. Woop woop!
BBC Alba's indie rock show, Rapal, returns tonight at 10pm with a live set from Twin Atlantic. This is a great wee show, basically it features sessions from various up and coming Scottish acts, check out their archive sessions here. My only gripe (more like jealousy) is that there isn't an equivalent show on one of the other BBC channels, surely more exposure for Scottish bands through a more mainstream outlet would only help Scottish musicians. Anyway, enough of my rants, if you live or are perhaps visitingStornoway next week then you might also be interested in a couple of recordings the Rapal team are doing, they are as follows:-
Thursday 18 June 2009
PEG & THE BOUFFANTS - THE CINEMATICS - THE SORRENMACLEAN BAND
Friday 19 June 2009
JOCASTA SLEEPS - WAKE THE PRESIDENT - BROKEN RECORDS
Both of which are being filmed at Studio Alba, tickets are free on the door and the show starts at 19:00 on both nights
Michael John McCarthy of Zoey Van Goey fame, is giving away free copes of his EP/Album (not sure which it is) 'Outside World Strategies Vol 1.' through the Glasgow-based record label, 'Wise Blood Industries'. I've not had a chance to listen to it yet (mainly cause I'm still in work, roll on home time), but the comparisons sound promising and you can't really knock 'free'.
Here's the copy n paste part....
"Michael John McCarthy is guitarist/vocalist/songwriter with Glasgow’s Zoey Van Goey and Accordion player in Aidan Moffat’s Best Ofs!
After recently returning from a tour with Mr. Moffat and Lord Cut-glass in Japan, he releases this, his debut solo Mini LP under the moniker Radio Trees on Wise Blood Industries. MJbeatboxs, strums and wheezes his accordion through seven perfect tracks of alt. pop brilliance!
Currently working on Volume 2; Vol. 1 should serve you as a great start to the summer and won’t disappoint fans of Sparklehorse, Okkervil River and early Neutral Milk Hotel."
If that sounds good to you then you can download it from here
In a first for this blog I have an interview!! well not quite an interview, more a Q&A, but hey that's even better as an interview would mean that I would have to type the whole thing up, and hey to be honest I am lazy and that would have taken me ages to do. Our unsuspecting victims are none other than the Phantom Band (I guess you worked that out from the title though), who have released one of my favourite albums of this year (buy it FFS) they have very kindly taken the time out to answer a few questions for me, enjoy.
First off, have you guys been able to jack in the ‘day job’ now that you’re rock stars?
Duncan - Unfortunately not. Except for Damien the drummer we're all back towork with a thump after the euro/uk tour in may. There's no money in music so you'd better enjoy doing it.
Andy - Don't know about having 'been able', and I don't know if we're quite rock stars just yet, but a few of us have had to anyway, due to the amount of time we're having to dedicate to the band. Obviously Sinkdog still runs the club and I've still got the ice cream van, both of which we'll be reluctant to give up.
How did you end up being signed by Chemikal Underground? Duncan - We'd done some recordings at Chem 19 ages ago when we recorded a demo and our first single - which came out on London label Trial & Error Records. I think Chemikal heard the echo of that a few years later and thought they'd have a closer listen.
Andy - They pestered us for ages and eventually we gave in. We'd recorded somedemos with Paul Savage at Chem19 and I think he wanted to find a way ofspending more time with us, since he found our jokes so hilarious. Maybenot, but he alerted the rest of the Delgados who run Chemikal to the waysof Phantom, they came to a gig we had in Mono, we got Stewart blazing drunkand the rest is history.
Are you happy with that amount of exposure that the band has received since the launch of the album? Duncan - I can't believe the press the album's had, hats off to Goblin Prince Will our agent at In House press its all his doing. Its nice to get some feedback though as we've been making music for years and no one has really taken much notice till recently.
Andy - Of course - it's been great. I don't think we've had a single bad reviewyet (touch wood) and I think that's made us up our game a fair bit, interms of trying not to disappoint when it comes to the live shows. We'revery humbled by it all and hope it continues, but obviously without lettingit influence to any great extent the music we write. It's often the casethat when bands continually receive good press there is a bit of abacklash. Obviously we'd rather that didn't happen, but we're not outpurely to please a majority, so if it does we'll just grit our teeth. Sofar so good though.
Have you started working on anything for the second album and if so can we expect it to be recorded a bit sooner than the first? Duncan - We have lots of new songs in the oven just now and we'd like to get them recorded asap but that whole process is a black art indeed, many factors to consider outwith our control. I think the next record will surpass Checkmate Savage though, hopefully we won't have to wait too long to hear it ourselves.
Andy - We've started messing around with stuff while we've been touring and wehave a few ideas almost fully formed, having started to do roughrecordings. We're quite excited about some of it and we're looking forwardto getting into the studio to work on the next album. I think it will bepretty different to the first one and I think our ear for arrangements andstructure has matured since we started on Checkmate Savage, although Ithink it will probably be as diverse what we've done up to now - we find itdifficult to stick to one thing. This might change though; who knows?
Can you reveal the identity of the woman in the black and white photograph on your album cover? Duncan - No.
Andy - She's my auntie Jean, who modeledin the early 80s. I think this was asurplus photo for a shoot that Barr Soft Drinks commissioned.
Apart from Peter Buck, have you had any other celebrity endorsements as of late? Duncan - The bassist from Pavement is a fan apparently, which makes our bassist Gerry very happy as he's a big Pavement fan.
Andy - Not sure. I heard a rumour that Jarvis Cocker mentioned it in a radiointerview, but I can't confirm that as I didn't hear the show. Pavementhave bigged us up, which we're quite happy about since some of us are bigfans. Gerry's a big Super Furrys fan, so when we played in Cardiff and GutoPryce came along, Ger was over the moon to hear that he's a fan of thealbum - not sure what the rest of the SFA think about it. Lauren Laverne's a fan, which we're very grateful for as she mentions usquite regularly.
What have you been listening to lately/any up and coming acts you’d recommend? Duncan - We've recently been enjoying the new Sunn O))) record Monoliths and Dimensions (great title), a bit of Sun Ra (on the TK Max tannoy oddly enough) and the new Elvis Perkins album In Dearland. As for new(ish) bands; we enjoyed live sets during the tour by Micachu, Male Bonding, Chrome Hoof and an awesome french band called Yolk. We'd recommend checking out our good friends DjangoDjango who should be in your radar by now, their first single just came out on another Phantom friend's label Shaddazz - run by Glasgonian filmmaker Luke Fowler.
Andy - We listened to Elvis Perkins' last album a fair bit on tour - some reallygreat songs. Personally I have been listening to the new Chain & The Gang album andAlasdair Roberts' new album 'Spoils' alot. In terms of new artists, there are some great bands in Glasgow, as always.Vars of Litchi are a fantastic band, and I'm a big fan of a band called TutVuVu, which comprises of former Uncle John & Whitelock members. On tour weplayed with a French band called Yolk, who do this pretty out-there jazzmetal - they were amazing.
Do you have anymore Scottish dates lined up for this year?
Duncan - At the moment its just T in The Park and Belladrum festivals but there should be more in the autumn so keep an eye on the myface for info.
Andy - At the moment, only a few of the festivals - T in the Park, Belladrum.We're open to offers, but are trying to limit the number of one-off showswe're doing close to home for a while. We don't want people to get bored ofhearing us, and we'd like to relax a bit after touring so we can work onsome new stuff. As always, we'll possibly do some shows under somedifferent band names, just to keep practicing the live sound and road-testsome new tracks on people who don't know who we are.
