Help Ma Boab, It's The 62 Word Review

Ace City Racers – Waiting

Ace City Racers pretty much take one element of each of Blur's hits and put them all into one song, creating something pretty unoffensive though unoriginal. Among other examples, there's the drum intro and chord sequence of Song 2, the fizzy high-on-the-neck guitar riff of There's No Other Way, and the half-spoken-half-song delivery of, well, most Blur songs. Not terrible but uninspiring.

Available to download from the Fred Perry website on the 13th of August.

Jonathan Snee – Good Blood

This acoustic singer songwriter writes what I would call uncomplicated songs, primarily just vocals and guitar. While its simplicity could work as a strength, the album is weakened somewhat by that fact that it's a bit samey and one-paced and could maybe have been shaved down to mini-album length (say, six or seven tracks) to keep things interesting. Worth dipping into, however.

Available now from Bandcamp.

Calum Carlyle – Strange Skies

Carlyle has an unusual vocal style, with each line enunciated clearly and deliberately. I don't know if I necessarily prefer this to the typical Scottish mumble but it's certainly refreshing to hear. I also can't say that I'm particularly keen on this acoustic singer-songwriter's brand of anti-folk but it's arranged and performed very well, the harmonies on Strange Skies being one example.

Available to download here.

Fin.

Friday Freebies

Apologies if this weeks Freebies seems a bit rushed, however, I was out seeing Endor last night so I am trying to quickly get this done before I head out to work. Ah the joys of real life getting in the way...

Dark Mean
One of the most enjoyable things for me about starting this blog was the number of folk that got in touch with me from all over the world. One guy that's been a massive supporter of this blog has been my American friend Mark, who also goes under the moniker of Mudville. It's not been just a one way street of me introducing him to Scottish stuff, he's turned me onto a lot of great stuff from across the pond that I would probably never have come across. The latest band that he's pointed me in the direction of are Dark Mean, a Canadian band that he somehow accidentally bought two copies of their album. Being the kind fella that he is he sent me over a copy one of his spare copies. Being a bit rubbish I have only just started listening to it this week, but fuck me it's a bit good. You don't need to take my word for it though as you can download their track 'Happy Banjo' for free on their Bandcamp.

Miniature Tigers
When I first started reading music blogs way back in 2005, the blog that I visited the most was always You Ain't No Picasso (a mighty fine site I should add). Over the years the site has turned me onto some pretty amazing music, one of the greatest finds that they introduced me to were indie-popsters Miniature Tigers. The band have a new album due out later in the year, as a wee taster they're giving away a free download of their new song 'Boomerang'.

Ace City Racers
Glasgow indie pop outift, Ace City Racers, have made their song 'Work Hard, Play Hard Again ' free to download on their SoundCloud page. It's a Blur 'Country House' era-ish, it's also one catchy bugger of a tune, grab it here.

Wavves
Here's one for all you hipsters, it's a new track from pop-punnker, Wavves called 'I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl' (don't we all).

American Songwriter Magazine
I know virtually fuck all about the American Songwriter Magazine, the one thing that I do know is that they've got a free compilation up for grabs. So if you'd like some free tracks from the likes of Beirut and Mariachi El Bronx then look no further.

GMJ Playlist
Here's another free compilation for y'all, this one has tracks from the likes of VHS or Beta, Wooden Shjips andBlitzen Trapper, you can download it here.

My Tiny Robots
Edinburgh odd Pop four piece have made their track ‘Rock Bossa Nova Four Beat Black’ free to download on their Soundcloud. The single is a precursor to their release of their series of three digital singles in October.

A Fight You Can't Win
The Edinburgh grunge four piece have made their eponymous album free to download on their Bandcamp.

The Darien Venture
Glasgow rockers, The Darien Venture have made their song 'Animals' free to you all using this link.

Slacker 73
Glenrothes outfit, Slacker 73 have made their song 'Reebox Shinin' free to download on their Bandcamp.

Atlas : Empire
I don't know too much about Glasgow outfit Atlas : Empire, I think they must have something to do with the Silent Forest, but then again I am only guessing that from the tags on their SoundCloud. Anyway, the important thing to know is that they have a free download up for grabs here.

Wiredrawn
Aberdonian alt-rockers, Wiredrawn have made some of their tunes free to download on their SoundCloud page, from what I have heard so far this sounds like they might well be ones to keep an eye for in the future.

Friday Freebies

Sufjan Stevens
Mr Stevens certainly likes to catch us off guard, first off he releases a surprise new EP, then the next thing you know he was giving away free track, 'I Walked', from his forthcoming album 'The Age of Adz'. Well now he's at it again, posting up another free download, 'Too Much', which you can find on his Bandcamp.

Summer Camp
My hipsters senses aren't what they used to be, until now Summer Camp completely passed me by, it wasn't until I was reading an article about them the other day that I realised that the duo actually comprised of one my favourite artists, Jeremy Warmsley. Their new 'Young EP', seems to be all over the place at the moment, which is fully deserved in my eyes, no it's not Scottish, but I'd urge you to check it out. If you need a bit more convincing then you can get a free download of their song 'I Only Have Eyes For You' by signing up to their mailing list (it's about half way down the page on the right hand side).

Esperi
Lo-fi experimentalist, Chris lee-Marr aka Esperi, makes some of the most delicate music in Scotland at the moment, and if Halina from the Glasgow Podcart is to be believed, then his forthcoming debut album is going to blow you away. Fine praise indeed, if you want to get in on the act before it all kicks off, then head on over to his Bandcamp, where you can download his track 'Proverb' , taken from his '21:21' EP for free.

Aspen Tide
The Glasgow indie pop quartet, have posted up their track 'Bittersweet' for free download on their Music Glue page. Simply give them your email address and they'll give you the tune, if that sounds like a fair deal to you, then get downloading here. Fans of bands like the Xcerts, Twin Atlantic and LightGuides should lap this up.

Randolph's Leap
Yes I know that I messed up their freebie the other week (thanks Jim), it was only up for a week, which I didn't know when I had found it, sorry. To make up for it, I have found this wee gem of a freebie from last year, it's their single 'A​-​side, B​-​side, Seaside' from last year, which you can get for free. The band have a new in the pipe line, which is sounding rather nifty, don't worry I'll remind you when it comes out.

Fiona Soe Paing
The Aberdonian electro-experimentalist, and also a favourite round these parts, has posted up 'Deep Song' from her excellent 'No Man's Land' release, for free download on her Bandcamp. Get it downloaded kids.

Mondegreen
The Glasweigan indie-pop experimentalists impressed me a lot when I caught them supporting 'we're only afraid of NYC' last month, you might remember that I posted a link to download their EP in Freebies a few weeks back. Now, being the generous folk that they are, they have posted up a rough demo called 'Casting Error', which you can download for here.

Walnut Tree Records
The Watford based label have posted up a cracking wee free download of a compilation album that they have compiled. There are a couple of Scottish acts on it, Pareto and The Barent Sea, you can get yourself a copy here.

Ace City Racers
Unashamedly taking their influences from Blur's Britpop days, the Glasgow indie trio have posted up their catchy as fuck tune, 'Scenester' up for free on their Bandcamp, if you like what you hear, then you'll be chuffed to learn that they have a residency at Pivo Pivo in Glasgow during October.

Lek Fonq
The Australian outfit have been described as being 'pop-funk meets electronica with a sunshine vibe', how could you resist something that sounds like so much fun. The band have given me an MP3 of a remix of their track 'Inner Rhthym', download it here.

Captain Polaroid
The Brummie lo-fi artist is back with another new freebie, his Beat Nostalgia EP3 is up for download over on his blog.

Lonesome Mercury
I don't think I have ever featured a band from the Isle of Man on Peenko before, so it's about time that I got that rectified with a dirty garage band by the name of Lonesome Mercury. They have a free EP called 'Dirty Northern Garage' up for free download on their Bandcamp.

!!! (chkchkchk)
The Californian dance punks have a new album out, 'Strange Weather Isn't It?', they're giving a wee tatster of it on their website, you can download 'AM/FM' here.

Sun Hotel
The New Orleans indie outfit are giving away a free download of their track 'Suburb', taken from their forthcoming album 'Coast', you can get a copy in exchange for a tweet or Facebook post.

Napoleon IIIrd
The band are giving away their track 'The Unknown Unknown' for free in exchange for a tweet.


Kowalskiy's Komplimentary Korner

Kowalskiy's Kontribution for today is a wee cracker, once again he's raised the bar just that little bit higher, how he'll manage to keep the standards this high I'll never know. This is the third in the series of his EP's, check this out for a track listing;

1. Over The Wall - track from the upcoming debut album
2. Penguins Kill Polar Bears - unreleased track
3. How To Swim - track from their upcoming album
4. Come On Gang! - Wolfjazz remix of 'Fortune Favours The Brave'
5. Shambles Miller - unreleased demo

Just click the pretty picture below and get downloading............