Scots Way-Hay - The Artists Albums of the Year 2011 (Part 1)

And so it begins... I did warn you at the end of last week I did warn you that I would be starting on my numerous end of year polls. Following on from the success of last years series of posts I have decided to run my Artists Albums of the Year, which basically meant that I went back to any of the bands and artists that have featured in my Scots Way-Hay posts over the past couple of years. To kick us off here are the choices of Happy Particles, Discopolis, John Knox Sex Club, Come on Gang! , Trapped in Kansas and Miss The Occupier.

Belong - Common Era chosen by Steven Kane (Happy Particles/Remember Remember)

I had been a fan of Belong for a while before Common Era came out, their previous efforts sitting somewhere between Stars of the Lid and Tim Hecker at his most rusty. I was pretty surprised by the departure i heard on first listen, it's still engulfed in the usual 'tumble dryer' ambience but there is a really strong melodic heart to this record along with some almost subliminal rhythms. One of the reasons i like it so much is that it can be hard to tell where the source of a lot of the cacophony is coming from, although it all sits prettily in harmony. Your brain connects melodies and perhaps makes up some new ghost melodies too. I get that nice nostalgic cozy feeling from it that you do from some Boards of Canada records where melody and memory seem to bind in a beautiful wonkiness. It certainly owes something to some bands from the Shoegaze era but i think they have achieved something distinctly fuzzy and their own. Not just my favorite of 2011 but one of my all time favorite records.

Bon Iver - Bon Iver chosen by Laurie Corlett-Donald (Discopolis)

An incredible follow up that I think captures the simplicity and beauty of his debut ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ butmanages to chart new territory with epic 80’s sounding ballads to fully instrumented rock songs. I cannot wait to spend the winter months listening to this record on repeat in my room while enjoying large glasses of mulled wine.

Sparrow & The Workshop - Spitting Daggers chosen by Rory Anderson (John Knox Sex Club)

Sparrows first album was cracking, this is ten times better. Nick is a complete geek with equipment so all the guitars are a step ahead of the previous album, plus the harmonies perfect. Jills vocals are incredible, she has a delicate quality but also wails (not like zep, I mean in a good way) like fuck which can kick the arse of most singers. As I said, the harmonies are great, Gregor has an amazing voice as well, and the two match so well, never been able to explain why.... I guess everyone talks about the vocals when Sparrows come up in conversation, but the lyrics are lovely too. Jill is a really sincere writer, we played with them up in Aberdeen, and they soundchecked 'Old Habits', everyones jaws dropped in John Knox, we all were really taken by that song, the performance was great, but the lyrics were really beautiful. Anyway, that was pretty much 5 sentences of rambling. The record is really well put together, it's hard just to put on one song from it, but my favourite is 'Against The Grain". If I could drive and put a driving tape together, that song wid be on it.

P.S. The intro of Soft Sound Of Your Voice sounds like Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson, which is bawzoot.

FOUND - factorycraft chosen by Michael Morrison (Come on Gang!)

My album of 2011 is factorycraft by FOUND. Since it was released in March, nothing else has got much of a look-in on the annual roundup stakes, and I’ve subsequently played it dozens and dozens of times.

As perennial overachievers, it was great to finally see FOUND get snapped up by Chemikal for this record and, thankfully for both parties, everyone seems in agreeance that factorycraft is a solid step-up from their first two albums proper. Anyway…

It’s dark, funny, very very smart and instantly arresting. It also plays as a record – with two distinct sides – which is a rare treat these days. Though it’s experimental in approach, factorycraft is a solid pop record which is never ‘out there’ for the sake of artiness, and instead just occasionally trips the listener up a little along the way. I always think it’s pretty easy to create something unique, but to make something unique and good is nigh on impossible, and that’s what FOUND seem to do on an almost bi-annual basis these days.

Each song is killer, with Blendbetter’s epic drop being a stand out for me, but it’s the obvious range of influence on offer that keeps the record leap years ahead of the crowd. Part The Cure and part Arab Strap, but with really weird bits thrown in, factorycraft is impossible to date – if I was an idiot, I would absolutely believe that this record was a vintage relic sent back through time from the future. If I lived in Hoxton I would call it 'small-town- industrial-hawick-soul-pop'.

Colin Stetson- New history of warfare volume 2-judges chosen by Sean (John Knox Sex Club)

A record that I struggle to compare to anything else I have ever heard. In fact to go on about it and attempt to 'review' it would be pointless so I won't other than to say it is beautiful, apocalyptic, baffling, furious and desperate.



The Cosmic Birth & Jounrey of Shinju TNT by Akron/Family chosen by Chris Ward (Trapped in Kansas)

I stumbled across Akron/Family one late night trawling the recommended artists on iTunes and since I heard the first minute of opening track 'Silly Bears', I was hooked. This album opens up a world of epic and cosmic proportions, every song invites you into a radiant phantasmagorical soundscape. For me it's like listening to the best elements of Grizzly Bear, Maps & Atlases, Animal Collective and Beach Boys all rolled into one!

Like most albums you've never heard before the first port of call was the incredible artwork on the cover, which is a volcano spewing out lava into the night sky. It's a beautiful wash of deep colours and it defiantly added a peacock moment which lured me in and I'm glad to say I was not disappointed. Wanting to know a bit more about the band I read a few articles which led me to find out the album was written in a cabin built into the side of an active volcano in Japan and then recorded in an abandoned train station in Detroit and that they lost one of their founding members when he went off to become a Buddhist monk!

These guys are special, their music is special and I think more people should be listening to Akron/Family and the cosmic birth & journey of Shinju TNT.



Simon Werner a Disparu by Sonic Youth chosen by Magnus (Miss The Occupier)

Simon Werner a Disparu is a film soundtrack released this January on Sonic Youth's SYR label, an outlet for occassional albums and EPs highlighting the band's more experimental extremes. These haven't exactly been radio friendly unit shifters (1999's double disc Goodbye 20th Century is hard going by most people's standards) but this new release is probably the most accessible of the SYRs, more reminiscent of, say, Tortoise or the Dirty Three. Simon Werner a Disparu is entirely instrumental and is heavy on atmospherics and white noise, but there are plenty of Providence-esque pianos and jangly guitar melodies. The closing track Theme d'Alice is ace and politely rocks out in a similar way to Pink Steam from Rather Ripped.

The recent speculation about Sonic Youth's future has given the band headlines in 2011 for all the wrong reasons. Certainly more focus will be on Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore's respective solo projects in the near future, so it's only right to give credit to the actual music Sonic Youth have put out this year rather than the very un-Sonic Youth celebrity gossip that's been doing the rounds.

Come on Gang! - Strike A Match: Track By Track

Normally I would save my Track By Track features for the date that an album actually gets its official release, but in this case I am more than happy to make an exception. For those of you who might not already know, tomorrow night Come on Gang! will be celebrating the release of their amazing debut album 'Strike a Match', which is also going to be the bands farewell gig. As Vinnie Jones might say, "it's going to be emotional".
Back in November myself and Jim 'Ayetunes' were lucky enough to have booked them to play their penultimate gig at the last ever AvP gig. I think it's safe to say that they won over a fair few new fans that evening and with 'Strike A Match' I am pretty sure they would have made thousands more. I will try my best not to dwell on their imminent break up and focus more on what is essentially one the finest Scottish pop albums of the past decade.
In a field which is dominated by male singers, Sarah Tanat-Jones voice is a breath of fresh air, back that with some tight ass pop numbers from Rob and Mikey and you have quite a combination. From the off, 'Coffee Shop' takes you on a journey through life in the city, through to their cracking pop singles 'Fortune Favours The Brave' and 'Wheels', the album is a joy from start to end.
As I've said before I don't do reviews (unless the BBC ask nicely), so this is probably the closest thing you'll get to one from me on this blog. I guess it should go without saying, but in case you hadn't already guessed, this is an album that I really think deserves your attention. I wouldn't have ran this feature if I didn't. Here's Sarah and Mikey from the band to talk you through how it all came to be...


1. Coffee Shop.

Sarah: I think of this song rather as an old friend. It's been around almost since the beginning, it was the first one that really had pop legs, and it's fun to play, like all good friends. It was the first time I started to express real, emotional emotions in this band I'd found myself in after moving to Edinburgh. I think we honed the way we wrote pop songs over the years but this was an early indication of what we could produce when we worked together.

Mikey: Yeah this is the second song we wrote. I love it for lots of reasons but mainly because we never ever discussed what sort of band we’d be, or music we would write, or what we’d sound like; we just thought we’d see what happened. And this was the first indication that we could really write a good song which was greater than the sum of its parts. In hindsight, I’m amazed such an approach worked; it’s not something I’d recommend any new band trying. Urgent yet melancholy, upbeat but emotional. It first defined our sound, so it’s the opener.

Come on Gang! - Coffee Shop by peenko

2. Fortune Favours The Brave

Sarah: Fortune is one of the jewels in our crown I think, in terms of instant singalongability (and yes that is a real word). I remember the exact afternoon in happened. We were hungry and tired on a Saturday afternoon in a dingy Leith studio. The only shop nearby where we could buy a sandwich was closed. Our only option was to keep on practising. This song sort of appeared as if by magic. I didn't know what to sing in the chorus so I started off just saying 'doo doo doo' and that ended up staying. In the studio I wondered what it would be like to harmonise with myself three times (during the bridge: if you listen to the song you'll know the bit I mean). It sounded pretty ostentatious, but we liked it, so it stayed.

Mikey: We knew we’d written a good song when, in practise, all we wanted to do is play it over and over again. When Fortune came along we were like kids on Christmas morning. We always had an ethos of ‘our best song is the next one we write’, but with this we knew we’d stumbled across something that was perfect for us. Like all our best songs, every instrument is individually doing something interesting - I particularly like the thundering drums and driving bass. Paul, bless him, really struggled to record this, as the original demo we had recorded was really good anyway. In the end it’s the huge drums and cavernous vocal harmonies that really set the two versions apart. Perhaps our best work.



3. Red Thread

Sarah: I love playing Red Thread. It's dramatic and it's got loads of toms in it, it gives you a good workout! And a cowbell. As everyone knows, cowbells are the instrument of the gods. So stately, refined and complex a piece of percussion.

Mikey: We loved this song when we wrote it. Loved it. However after a few months we came to realise that we seemed to be the only ones, as most people just didn’t ‘get it’. In the studio Paul was one of those people. We persisted though and, thanks to some incredible drumming and a few extra guitar tweaks, it’s become a bit of a monster. Everything leading up the first chorus is quite tense, and then it just keeps exploding. We used to open sets with it, as it warmed us all up, tested the PA and the shouting soon got rid of any nerves. I’ll miss playing Red Thread.



4. Need To Run

Sarah: I took the cowbell notion and ran with it, branching out into new and terrifying areas of battery. We were going for all-out pop in a vaguely Motown school with this one.

Mikey: Fucking cowbell. Yeah this has a nice back-and-forth over the verses. I don’t remember how we came up with this, but it snuck in from somewhere. I remember Paul largely replaced my guitar bit with distorted vibes (that’s an instrument by the way) which Sarah played like a maniac.



5. Wheels

Sarah: An oldie, one that people often greeted with pleasure at gigs, which was nice. It expresses my love of driving, and Mikey's love of simple but effective riffs. When the time came to record it properly for the album, we put in a key change. It's like a gear change, but about 80% more awesome. If you don't know how to end a song, put in a key change. Just kidding. We did know how it was supposed to end. But we still put in a key change.

Mikey: Like Coffee Shop, to me Wheels is 100% ‘our sound’. I think it was maybe the third or fourth song we ever wrote, but it always got a great reaction. It’s gone through a few changes over the years, but it’s done a hell of a lot of good for the band and really helped kick-start things early for us. I remember meeting a guy in London who chatted away about how good this song ‘Wheels’ was. I felt like a total dick when I told him I was in the band.

Come on Gang! - Wheels by peenko

6. This Familiar Road

Sarah: I wanted to see what I could do with a snare shuffle. This song came out quickly, like a baby born in the car on the way to hospital. Unlike a baby, this was created in our wee attic room at the pear tree, surrounded by amps, cables and empty crisp packets. I love this song. It's simple and warm-hearted.

Mikey: Jaunty. It‘s always sounded familiar to me. Even though it’s by no means my favourite of ours, I always feel like this is someone else’s song when we play it. It’s simple but really quite different from our other stuff; Sarah’s influence is all over it and that’s what makes it a joy to play.



7. Fan the Flame

Sarah: A dash of drama, some shouting, guitary madness... I think of this as quite a masculine song, it's great getting to focus on the bass drum.

Mikey: Love the bass drum and the bass in this. We’d been listening to Rumours a lot at the time. And I’d been listening to old Yeah Yeah Yeah’s stuff. When worlds collide.

Come on Gang! - Fan The Flame by peenko

8. To the Morning

Sarah: Another track where I let loose on the toms, if you notice they pound through quite a hefty proportion of the song. I'm all for that. It kind of solidifies what the lyrics are about. The guitar is quite stompy too, in my mind it's a mix of glam rock and 50s rock and roll styles. It's a song full of frustration mixed with resolution - the lyrics, at any rate. Despite calling to mind shitty nights at Cab Vol in Edinburgh, it's still one of my favourite songs on the album.

Mikey: This will always make me smile. Sarah really fought to make this song as good as it is, and I’m so glad she did. Her vocals get fiercely pushed towards the end and, combined with the toms, it’s like she wants to fight you. Like a lot of our songs, the Motown influence is here again: upbeat music and contemplative lyrics. Listen out for a bag of Skittle too…



9. Santa Maria

Sarah: Trev wrote the lyrics to Santa Maria, back in the day. We amped this up in the studio when we were recording it with Paul. God, I loved recording this album. It was one of the most intense, tiring, exciting times of my life so far.

Mikey: Now it was my turn to push for a track. I’ve always loved this and, along with an early song of ours called Bang, I really like the guitar work on it. Luckily Paul saw the potential in it to so it made the cut. Undoubtedly not a classic song of ours, but certainly one of my favourites. The lyrics always remind me of a fairly uncertain time in the band’s history too, the end of one era and the start of a new adventure.

Come on Gang! - Santa Maria by peenko

10. Spinning Room

Sarah: A touch of disco for this one to encourage dancing activity. I don't think it's just a dumb dancey song though; it's got a bit more going on that just pure inebriation. I don't think we produced anything really dumb. I hope we didn't anyway.

Mikey: When I was a kid I used to prefer bands whose songs I could easily learn on the guitar, and this is one of those songs that’s so easy and simple and to the point that it could be anybody’s. I love the twisted piano notes in the middle. We’ve finished on this song hundreds of times and the response it’s got has always been fantastic - it seems to bring people out of their shell for a dance.



11. Start the Sound

Sarah: We chose to end the album with a quieter, more contemplative song. Played live, StS was always a dream, I would really enjoy it especially as I got to harmonise with the boys for pretty much the only time in our live set. It's more understated than our other tracks, hopefully it provides a wind-down after the emotional rollercoaster you've just been on with this insane, action-packed hand-grenade of a record.

Mikey: This finishes the album on a contemplative, reflective note, as if we’ve just had a big party, things got messy, and now it’s time to think through our actions. Again the lyrics are questioning and struggling to find answers, until the chorus comes along and resolves them, so it was just a case of being sympathetic to what went underneath the words. It’s changed a lot since the single version. The vocal harmonies are warm and rich and I think the theme’s pretty universal. I always wanted to make the album as timeless as possible, and this song probably achieves that accoldae more than any others. I’m so proud of this album.

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As I already mentioned, tomorrow night (Saturday 12th) we say bon voyage to those lovely Come on Gang! kids. The band are planning to go out with a massive party at Pilrig St Paul's Church in Edinburgh to celebrate the launch of their debut album. As part of the celebrations they have asked a whole load of their favourite bands to come along and join them for the evening, including Over the Wall, Cancel the Astronauts, a lovely songstress by the name of Hailey Beavis, plus some very special surprise guests. In addition to this, myself and Jim 'Ayetunes' will be battling it out with DJ sets in between the bands. There is no bar so you can bring along your own bottles for the evening, grab a copy of the album and come and give Come on Gang! the send off that they deserve.

If you are quick off the mark then you can still get tickets from Avalanche Records on The Grassmarket, or you might still be able to get one here, if all of that fails then you might still be able to get one on the door. Either way I look forward to seeing you there, Peenko x

Friday Freebies

Fleet Foxes
On Monday night the Internet went officially bat shit crazy for a few hours with the exciting news that the Fleet Foxes are coming back, with a new album and massive tour (no Scottish date yet). As a taster of what you can expect from their new material they are giving away their amazing new track 'Helplessness Blues' for free, if this is anything to go by then boy are we in for a treat.

The Streets
Love him or hate him, I think it's fair to say that Mr Skinners debut album, 'Original Pirate Material' is a fucking epic record. No question. Having decided to retire his Streets moniker with his final album 'Computers and Blues', I think he's going out on a bit of a high with this record. If you're not too sure if it's still your bag, then you can download '4 O'Clock Today' for nowt off Amazon.

Butcher Boy
Anyone who caught Butcher Boy supporting Belle and Sebastian at their last Barrowlands show should agree that the new material from the Glasgow indie outfit is sounding pretty damn sweet. If you haven't heard of them before then do yourself a favour and get downloading 'Clockwork' which is taken from their second album 'React Or Die', then go and buy the actual album. It's a hidden classic, trust me.

Azure Ray
If you haven't got any plans for this evening then might I suggest that you get yourself down to King Tuts for an evening of indie-joy. Having been on a bit of a hiatus for the past few years the amazing Azure Ray are back in town and they've asked Glasgow's finest, Beerjacket to support for the evening. If you haven't heard of Azure Ray before, then get that rectified by downloading this collaboration they recorded with Sparkelhorse.

Come On Gang!
Last week I was lucky enough to have been asked to appear on Pop Goes The Revolution on Subcity (you happy now George?!), I got asked to choose 4 songs to play. Seeing as I do this weekly post I thought it made sense for me to select songs that are freely available on the internet. One of my choices was the poptastic, 'Fortune Favours The Brave' from Come On Gang!. Sadly the band have decided to call it a day, but not before going out with one final hurrah, which will also be there album launch. If I am honest about it, I am pretty gutted about them splitting, for me they're another holiday romance band, just as soon I've fallen for them they'll be gone for good. On a more positive note, they have crafted on the best albums I have heard so far this year. Anyway, enough of that ramble, you didn't come here to be rambled at, you are here for free stuff and that's what you're going to get. Just head over to their Bandcamp where you will find free download of the aforementioned song, plus a download of former single Wheels.

French Wives
Those luverly French Wives really have left the best till last as they begin to roundup their series of Home Fires freebies by giving away Me vs Me, one of their finest moments to date. Their new EP is due out later in the month, look out for as it's a corking wee release.

de Selby
It's been a while since we've heard much from the Second Hand Marching Band, so ti came as a nice surprise to find out that not only have they been practising new material, but one of them has gone off and formed his own wee side project. Step forward, Alistair Beith, who has roped in some of his fellow Marchers to record an EP under the banner of de Selby. The EP has been getting some heavy rotation in my car this week, it reminds me a touch of Burnt Island. No bad thing in my eyes, if you fancy hearing the EP you can download it as one of those pay what you want deals on Bandcamp. If you like what you hear then there is a limited edition CD that you can buy too, it's awffa pretty.

Dear Mountaineer
If you missed my Scots Way-Hay post earlier in the week, then now's the time to do some much needed catching up. At the time I found myself bemoaning the lack of a full track on their Bandcamp page, then I ended up looking rather foolish when they posted up the excellent 'The Hare Versus The Bear' on their Bandcamp. Again it's a pay what you want kind of download, so it's up to you if you want to download it for free then on your shoulders so be it. Either way I urge you to check this four piece out.

Yeasayer
Technically it's not a freebie as it' one of those pay what you want deals, but hey there is an option to pay fuck all, so if your conscience can cope with that then you will find a free download of a recording of Yeasayer in Belgium here.

Now Wakes The Sea
A few months back I posted a freebie from Now Wakes The Sea, this was shortly before a gig he was playing for Elba Session. Being the nugget that I am, I hadn't realised they weren't the original band that had been booked up to play. The original band were my mates band, so when I came across the freebie I automatically thought it was my mates band and I started to profess about me being mates Now Wakes The Sea. Yes, I am fuck nugget. On the brighter side he really impressed me at the gig, now his new EP 'Oral Arms' is up for free download I would suggest you check it out. One day I hope that he becomes my friend too.

North American War
Matthew 'Song By Toad' wrote a cracking wee review of an EP from North American War earlier in the week, the review caught my attention for two reasons. One it was released on the awesome Winning Sperm Party label, and two it's free to download. I would suggest you read the Toads review, then if it sounds like your cup of tea you can download it for free here.

Bear Driver
I have already admit how much I like this Leeds pop outfit, so it was good to hear that they're heading out to this years SXSW. In the build up to their big adventures the band are giving away a new track every other week until they fly out. Awesome stuff.

Julia and the Doogans
The female fronted Glasgow indie folk outfit have a pretty new website, to celebrate it's prettiness they've made one of their demos available to download for free.

Yuck
I really don't seem to be able to get away from Yuck, I am almost at the stage were I am determined not to like them, but I know that eventually I am going to cave in. Perhaps it will be this free download of 'Coconut Bible' that will push me over the edge. We wait with bated breath.

The Barettas
The singer from this trio from Hamilton, Ontario sounds a lot like Gwen Stefani, if that's a plus in your boo then get downloading their single Touche, there's also an awesome wee video for you to admire too.

Vivian Girls
Stereogum have a free download of a new Vivian Girls song.

Esben and the Witch
The internet seems to be spaffing over this lot, I can't get past their shite name. If you are less fickle than me you will be pleased to know that you can get yourself a free download of their song 'Warpath' in exchange for your email address.

Valentine Records - Doolittle
The Manchester label has just posted up a free download of a covers album of the Pixies classic, it includes Neil Miltons take on Wave of Mutilation.

Smith Westerns
Another band getting a lot of hype at the moment are Chicago trio, Smith Western, their album 'Dye It Blonde' has been getting a fair few spins on my MP3 player over the past couple of weeks. I still haven't quite made my mind up if it's for me or not, if you fancy checking them out you can download their song Weekend for free via KEXP.

blood blood
A very late addition to this weeks freebies comes courtesy of Glasgow lo-fi outfit, blood blood, who I cam across courtesy of Happy Particles Facebook update. If you are quick off the mark then you will find a couple of free EPs to download here.

Scots Way-Hay - The Artists Albums of the Year (Part 2)

So here we are with the second of my series of posts getting some of the artists that did interviews for me to tell me their albums of 2010. Our artists taking part this week include A Band Called Quinn, Burnt Island, Come on Gang!, RM Hubbert and The Last Battle.
We've got quite an eclectic mix of albums here, a lot of which I haven't heard yet and some albums I love. A big shout out to the Last Battle for having all of the band choosing their album of the year. Top marks, however go out to Mikey from Come on Gang! for his 'novel'-like response....

Sex, Dreams & Denim Jeans by Uffie

chosen by Louise Quinn, A Band Called Quinn

"I found this quite difficult because I've been so busy recording & releasing The Beggar's Opera album this year I've just been hearing tracks here & there & not really taking the time to get into albums. I liked what I've heard from The Arcade Fire, Caribou and Robyn albums. I was gonna say The Sexual Objects album Cucumber 'cause I think that is amazing & it's probably the closest I've came to listening to & getting into a whole album that's been released this year but I think I'll go for Sex, Dreams & Denim Jeans by Uffie. The album is a bit patchy but the title track & Illusion Of Love have been going round my head since I heard them. It's a bit of a hipster album with appearances from Pharrell Williams and Matt Safer from The rapture and producers including Mr Oizo & Mirwais. I really like the production. I like that she sings that she's not an artist & she can't sing and is the least working girl in showbusiness. It's cheeky, honest, wonky & fresh"

The Unwinding Hours by The Unwinding Hours

chosen by RM Hubbert

"Epic but not contrived. Honest and simple without being over sentimental. Beautiful and brutal. REALLY FUCKING LOUD".

The Walkmen - Lisbon

chosen by Rodge Glass, Burnt Island

"There's loads of stuff I've loved this year, especially records by The Phantom Band and The National, but at the moment I'm listening pretty solidly to The Walkmen. I got into them around the time of the first couple of records then lost track until I took a chance on the new album, Lisbon, a few weeks ago, then went backwards to the earlier albums again. I love the singer's raspy, angry voice, the weird tough sound of the guitars and the strange humming keyboards that so many of their songs have, also the way these use haunting brass sections in really simple arrangements that make the tunes sound like dark little lullabies. Songs like 'While I Shovel the Snow' and 'Stranded' are just ideal for winter in Glasgow, walking around, watching your breath in the air and shivering. In these grim old times, The Walkmen suit my mood perfectly".

Kid Canaveral - Shouting At Wildlife

chosen by Michael Morrison (aged 27 ½), Come On Gang!

"I genuinely thought and thought and thought about this one. A lot. I suspected I knew, but it seemed like far too obvious a choice, so I tried to dismiss it and choose one of the others that surprised me in 2010.

After a few days, I could deny it no longer. Shouting At Wildlife by Kid Canaveral is my favourite album of 2010, by a country mile. Here’s why.


As I moaned to Aye Tunes only yesterday, I really only get excited about albums. Sure I buy the odd EP and single (if they’re available in nice hard copies), but these formats have never been able to stand up to the scope and breadth that a good album has. I’ve always loved albums and genuinely miss the days when I would join the queue outside the local record shop to buy that month’s ‘big album’ as soon as it hit the shelves. The sense of occasion and apprehension, promise and anticipation are things which I associate with the release of an album I want and, thanks to having been friends with Kid Canaveral for years now, all of these often absent attributes were in place on the build-up to their release.


Of course David momentarily spoiled all that by sending me a promo copy, but it was just a wee taster of what was to come, so I forgave him. Unlike most releases, I was fortunate enough to have literally waited years for this album, and that made the payload all the sweeter. The first time I saw ‘The Kids’ was when both them and my own band were put together on a Rubix bill at Henry’s (along with Woodenbox if I remember correctly?). We made friends right away. Listening to their range of tunes and never-ending stock pile of potential singles really made me start to focus on what my own band was about at the time. We’d already written some good songs, but the idea of releasing them and having ‘singles’ hadn’t crossed our minds for a second. Then David started talking about working towards their debut album, and I shat it basically.


Anyway, fast forward two and half years and eventually a copy of Shouting At Wildlife drops into my inbox. No artwork on the promo so I make do with scanning the track listing instead. Good Morning? Tick. You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night? Tick. Smash Hits? Tick. Couldn’t Dance? Tick. Fuck me this was going to be great! A few entirely new songs, but it was reassuring to see they hadn’t dismissed some cracking older songs for being, well, old. Sticking the album in and hitting play, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I know David’s a bit of a perfectionist and treats albums with the same kind of sanctitude I do, so I was actually quite nervous. We had been recording our album at roughly the same time too, so part of me was shitting it I’d want to go back to the drawing board after hearing Kid Canaveral’s effort.


To say I was pleasantly surprised is a monumental understatement. The album flows perfectly and is restrained in the all right places. Any fat was stripped off in favour of a confident and actually quite ballsy sound. I hate when albums (usually the 2nd or 3rd in a band’s career) are described as ‘mature’, but that is definitely a word that came to mind. I was dreading that the album would be twee and lightweight, as lazy journos had often used the ‘T’ word to describe our heroes, but what I got was a record with a layered and considered sound, something timeless and crisp. It was so refreshing to hear David and Kate’s superb lyrics get the clarity and backdrop they deserved, and that made them shine for the lovelorn tinged words they are.


Shouting At Wildlife is obviously a debut album, in all the right ways. The collection of songs have earned their place on the record, having been whittled down from dozens, and the lyrics seem to come from a wisdom that too is earned - though through life’s obligatory harsh lessons. Like all good debuts, this is songwriting at its most honest and earnest. The reprise finished and I hit play again. David asked me what I thought of it. Where to start? To me, Shouting at Wildlife sounds like a very particular part of a very particular night out. You know those nights when it’s such a big one that a little bit of drama’s almost inevitable? You maybe have a wee argument with your mates and, to spite them, stumble off in the direction of a house party you heard rumour of. When you get there a text arrives from your mate or girlfriend telling you what a fuck you are, but you don’t care ‘cos you’re hammered and you’ve just met a bunch of new friends. What happens next, when you stay up until the small hours drunkenly regaling complete strangers with the stories of your life - only to leave at 6 a.m. with the promise that you’ll stay best mates forever - that is what this album sounds like to me".

Twin Shadow - 'Forget'

chosen by Arwen, The Last Battle

"Twin Shadow - 'Forget'. Ian from Broken Records introduced me to this recently, and I instantly fell in love with it. It's just pure 80's sounding but in an weird awesome way."

Meursault 'All Creatures Will Make Merry'

chosen by Brian, The Last Battle

"My favourite album of the last year has to be Meursault's 'All Creatures Will Make Merry'. It's enough of a departure from the first record to sound fresh but not so much as to be indistinguishable as Meursault."

Admiral Fallow - 'Boots Met My Face'

chosen by Liam, The Last Battle

"I'm gonna go for Admiral Fallow's 'Boots Met My Face'. The pop harmonies and amazing musicianship blew me away the first time I heard it (and continue to do so). 'Squealing Pigs' in particular has the catchiest chorus I've heard in a long time. Also, if Guy Garvey of Elbow thinks they're good enough to play on his radio show, then they're alright by me."

Yusuf Azak - 'Turn On The Long Wire'

chosen by Flora, The Last Battle

"We played with Yusaf Asak recently and he impressed me so much I cheekily asked to swap our album for a copy of his. It wasn't meant for me but a xmas present for someone else, but I ended up listening to it and really enjoying it. I've still not wrapped it up yet!"

Foals - 'Total Life Forever''

chosen by Ella, The Last Battle

"Album of 2010 has to be Foals 'Total Life Forever'. It's just a great album, a massive step forward from their first and in 'Blue Blood' has one of the most beautiful songs of the year. It was great to see a band come back with an album to silence the naysayers"

Kid Canaveral - 'Shouting At Wildlife'

chosen by Paul and Scott, The Last Battle

Paul - "Kid Canaveral 'Shouting At Wildlife'. I've picked it as my favourite album of the year, why do I need to say anything else?"

Scott - "I'll have to be with Paul on this one and say Kid Canaveral 'Shouting At Wildlife'. Tunes like 'Good Morning', 'You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night', 'Smash Hits', 'And Another Thing!' and the tender 'Her Hair Hangs Down' gave me complete and utter song envy. I nearly boaked. It's also the album that made me fall back in love with indie guitar music again instead of listening to folky stuff all the time. Some of David's lyrics are pretty funny too. I must apologise for the gushing, but that's what this band do to me. Simple, to the point, catchy, memorable chorus's - indie pop at it's best!"

Weekly Round Up (31/10/10)

Monday - Amy Duncan kicked the week off with some Fresh Meat action
Tuesday - Steve Mason and A Band Called Quinn sessions
Wednesday - Inverness post-rockers, Shutter took on some Scots Way-Hay action and I also let you know about a couple of exciting new projects which I am involved in.
Thursday - I had quite a few sessions up for download, Cancel the Astronauts, Isobel Campbell and the Twilight Sad all did there bit. The good folk from Off the Beaten Tracks also did some Community Service
Friday - this weeks Freebies included tunes from Le Reno Amps, Tapes 'n Tapes, Remember Remember and FOUND
Saturday - didn't get tickets to see Take That, then why not console yourself with the Seventeenth Century's cover of Patience, did I mention that they're also playing at AvP3 next Friday? Apparently tickets for that are a bit easier to get your hands on...


News, gigs and any other gubbins......

So the week of THE big gig has finally arrived, Ayetunes vs Peenko 3 is back and this time it's personal (no I have no idea where I'm going with that either). If you haven't already got yourself a ticket sorted what's been stopping you?! In the unlikely event that you don't know who we've got lined up, it's the Seventeenth Century, Come On Gang! and I Build Collapsible Mountains. It's going to be awesome sauce! It's this Friday night, it's only £6, it all kicks off at 7pm at the Classic Grand. We'd love to see some familiar and some unfamiliar faces coming down for the evening. There will of course be the usual free sweets on offer from this bearded twat - man that just sounds plain wrong. I should think these things through more in my head before I say them.....


On Thursday night, Elba Sessions are back with another cracking wee evening of intimate entertainment. Making his first live outing in Glasgow as I Build Collapsible Mountains, Luke Joyce warms up nicely for the following nights show at AvsP, by making an appearance. Joining him for the evening they also have Iglue and Now Wakes The Sea.



Also on Thursday (4th) night, Benni Hemm Hemm, Second Hand Marching Band & Tannahill hit Stereo in Glasgow for an evening of folk pop tinged fun. I won't be usual presumptuous self and expect you to have heard all of these bands, so here's a wee blurb (ie a copy n paste) about them all....
"Benni Hemm Hemm, the delightful pop troubador from Iceland, whose Scottish band features members of Eagleowl, SHMB, Withered Hand, The Occasional Flickers, How to Swim, The Trembling Bells, The Pineapple Chunks, Jesus H Foxx, Captain Slackship's Mezannine Allstars and more (and there's only 6 members). Benni has, in the past, collaborated with Alasdair Roberts and Jens Lekman and is currently recording a joint album with SHMB.
The Second Hand Marching Band will be a 17-or-so piece indie folk funhouse who shall play to the crowd and in the crowd, with post-rock influenced buildups, quiet folk songs and dance party tunes.
And the last group, Tannahill, are particularly special, made up of Alasdair Roberts, Wounded Knee, Sean from John Knox Sex Club and SHMB members Alistair, Pete, Ross and Rich. Their set will consist of reinterpretations of Robert Tannahill songs. Robert Tannahill is a Scottish poet from Paisley who died 200 years ago, but whose legacy is now coming to more people's attention after years of being overshadowed by his contemporary and inspiration, Robert Burns.This will be the first performance of the group, who will be releasing an album of Tannahill songs next year."
Kick off is at 7pm and door charge will be £5.

Next Saturday, the 6th, promoters 45 A-Side Records have a cracking wee gig lined up at Stereo in Glasgow. For your evenings entertainment they have Meursault, Olympic Swimmers and Happy Particles for just £5. The evening kicks off at half seven, it should be quite a night.



I'll leave you this week with a video from a band who have been getting me pretty excited as of late, they're called Let's Talk About Trees, a side project from some of the members of John Knox Sex Club and Washington Irving. The band will be making their live debut at Stereo in Glasgow on the 20th of November, so get the date down in your diary...

Scrambled Eigg - The Away Game Diary by David from Kid Canaveral

Smashed Tits

Jealousy is a an awful trait, but I have to admit that I was incredibly envious of all of the lucky punters that attended the Fence Collectives' inaugural 'Away Game Festival' on Eigg. Having been to Home Game I had a rough idea of what I might have missed out on. In order to rub salts into the wound I decided to ask David from Kid Canaveral to write me a wee diary about his experiences on Eigg, or at least tell me the bits that he could remember/would actually share with me. So here it is, Mr MacGregor's hazy memories of a cracking weekend spent on an Island off the West coast of Scotland.... (I should point out that all of the terrible captions under the photo's are all my doing, yes, I know they're terrible)

After the 150 tickets sold out in six minutes, and the fact that an additional 90 musicians would accompany those lucky brief-holders, led some people to question if the 70-or-so inhabitants of the beautiful Isle of Eigg would know what hit them. I, on the other hand, having heard tales of these merry Islanders, thought that it may be the incomers attending the first Fence Records Away Game (a new and wild sister Festival to the annual and fantastic Homegame) who would be the ones left shell-shocked. I certainly know it took me, and others, almost a week to pull themselves together after returning to the mainland.

My morning started by returning to Strathclyde Students Union to pick up my car before the meter ran out. Glamorous stuff, I know. I left the other Canaverals blissfully unconscious and headed back to where we'd opened for Frightened Rabbit the previous night. Which was the (very good) reason we weren't on Eigg the previous day. That was quite an experience, but it was having an adverse effect on my early morning Yoker to Queen Street train ride. We progressed smoothly through breakfast and packing the cars. But, hang on, shouldn't Kate be back from picking up Johnny Flynn from the airport by now? Scott and Laura are already at ASDA (other supermarkets are available) waiting to buy drink? What time is the ferry? Right.

What should have followed was one of the most scenic drives you can do in Scotland, if not the UK. What actually followed was a convoy of three cars tearing up the West Coast trying desperately to make up time that had somehow disappeared, and not create an indelible black mark on the weekend by causing the deaths of (at least) eight people. The prospect of missing the last Shearwater ferry of the Friday was a thought too much to bear. Incredibly, and despite almost being crushed by a lorry over-laden with hay bales on Rannoch Mor, we arrived for our 6pm ferry at 5.54. Apparently this crossing was something that was widely discussed throughout the following couple of days, to the extent that some people would have you believe that it could make an appearance on the big screen as "The Third Crossing of The Shearwater". Yes, it was little choppy, and yes, there was some splashing but it wasn't that bad, was it? Obviously I say this having had the comfort of being in the cabin, due to the fact we were last in the queue and everyone else wanted an open air view. Ha. If you speak to Dan of Withered Hand fame, you'd get a different story. Somehow we managed to survive the 'perfect storm'...Scott and I by consuming most of a (modest) crate of Tennent’s and cheering at each plunge over a crest of a wave, Kate and Rose by staring at a fixed point in the distance. Each to their own. Scott and I had foolishly positioned ourselves immediately beside the boats only toilet. This would lead to a steady stream of folk who had been in the pub all afternoon crashing by us and the repeated visits of the unfortunate Sunday Times journalist who'd gone greener than a bi-lingual road sign. What a rubbish simile.

We arrived and were greeted with open arms by Johnny (Pictish Trail) and Kenny (King Creosote) before participating in the human chain of baggage handlers tossing amongst other things, some questionable luggage, from boat to tractor trailer. The full beauty of Eigg was not immediately apparent as the sun had been setting with haste as we made our way across The Minch. So, I should probably start talking about music, as that's what everyone was there for. The two venues for the weekend were the Town Hall and a specially erected Marquee immediately beside it. It was impressive stuff. I’ll admit that the two days of music are now one crazy blur of tunes, drink and pastry, so I’ve only really written about what I can recall. I make no guarantees about timings…or days. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Oates Field. Especially ‘I won’t want you’. One of their new songs still has me blushing when I recall the lyrics. FOUND were even better than when we played with them in St Andrews recently. Their set was interrupted by a local gentleman who (after asking Ziggy if he could use his microphone) berated the crowd for not dancing more fervently to “this f***ing amazing band”. Everyone obeyed. Withered Hand delivered a great set during which a woman shouted “Men! You’re all the same!” at me whilst I was singing along to one of Dan’s more salacious lyrics. Dancing, falling over, repeatedly hugging an incredibly patient Bart from Eagleowl (whilst lamenting the worst (and most humiliating) gig we ever played as a three piece, that he and every other musician who was on the LIMBOLive Vol.1 CD witnessed at the launch) and all sorts followed and Friday became Saturday and I got a year older. That’s 27, if you’re counting, not “40!”, as someone shouted at me during our set.

Guinness for breakfast, nice...

Saturday

Saturday started with a stumble down from the farmhouse to the hostel for some breakfast. Well, in the back of a transit van. There, a game of hungover scrabble was punctuated by interruptions by one the most hilariously awful women ever to draw breath. Don't worry, she was an incomer. After some incredible patience and toast it was time to head back to the Town Hall and Marquee.

The Legendary Bearded Ladies of Eigg

Slow Club were the perfect tonic to a hangover, and provided inspiration to many by having consumed a fair few already on the Saturday morning/afternoon. With a crystal clear sound in the tent that most venues would be envious of they reminded me just why I have enjoyed their live show so much in the past. I would later really ingratiate myself with Charles (Watson, of the ‘Club) as while I was talking to him in the bit at the back of the Marquee stage with two guitars over one shoulder and a pint in my hand, one of said guitars would slip off my shoulder and land on my forearm causing an arc of Guinness from said pint to land in the lid of their Merchandise case. I wasn't even drunk. He was awfully nice about it...

It must be love...

So then we had our set. It was going to be great. The tent was filled all the way to the back and we were riding on the back of some great gigs and some very flattering press following the release of our debut LP ‘SHOUTING AT WILDLIFE’ (plug, plug, plug). Our first two songs went fine, perhaps a little baggier than usual, but that was just down to the excitement of the occasion? Things started to go wrong on our cover of Missionary (that we'd learned for our BBC session earlier in the week) and after this it became apparent something was up. 'Smash Hits' was plagued by drumming 'issues' and one of the strings on Kate’s guitar prominently used in the choral riff managed to slip a whole semi-tone out of tune, during. It turned out Scott was suffering from what appeared to be rather acute cramp in on of his arms and it looked like our set was over. We were all gutted and none more than Scott. His face was a mixture of pain and distress. Scott managed to continue through the remaining songs of our set and in the process gave himself a black eye and a bloody crotch (luckily [!?] the blood was from his hand) through overcompensating due to the cramp. He carried on where many others would have jacked it in, and considering the fact folk still seemed to be enjoying themselves I can't stress enough how grateful I am.

Apparently Barry Manillow made a surprise appearance on Eigg...

For 'You Only Went Out to Get Drunk Last Night', we were joined by an extended choir featuring four of the recorded members and additionally Johnny Lynch, Kenny Anderson, Princess Biscuit and some of the RaMilnes. After a false start it was great fun. We finished our set (which by the end of, Scott was an unhealthy green pallor from the pain) and limped offstage to far greater ovation than we thought we deserved. Upon talking to people (specifically other bands/performers first, to ask was that as crap as it felt) afterwards we were told a number of heartening things. For instance: 'it was shambolic, but entertaining" and "you were shite technically, but it was great fun". When talking to others who'd been in the crowd and weren't necessarily paying particular attention to the technical side of things, most seemed too inebriated to care and claim to have enjoyed it. And that's what matters, eh? And a fair amount of folk bought our album afterwards. Scott still couldn't make a fist on the Sunday, so we're hoping that it was just cramp and not something more serious and problematic for the future. Mercifully none of the reviews have mentioned us [apart from a favourable one in the Guardian, YAS!], as compared to the many other acts over the weekend, we were sorely below par. Good-natured heckling requesting the removal of my shirt and repeated renditions of the chorus of Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' punctuated the gaps between songs where I would normally ramble on. It was touching. Perhaps I will listen to "TAPS AFF!" at our next show.

King Creosote played a set that was just flipping marvelous. A greatest hits set of sorts and a version of “the Happy Song” that had me thrashing about like an idiot pumping my fist in the air as if I was mulleted, watching Bon Jovi and mentally insufficient. Brilliant. After this I learned that if you haven’t eaten for 10 or so hours that the best thing to do is get two of the Fisher and Donaldson (blatant plug for free fudge doughnuts?) Spinach and Ricotta Rolls that have just appeared from the oven down in Galmisdale and put them either side of a sausage roll, sandwich style, it’s probably one the best things ever. Not for regular consumption, though. I managed to squeeze in receiving some verbal abuse from Matthew of Song, By Toad infamy before watching British Sea Power do lots of climbing in the marquee making it a bit wobbly. Luckily everyone was too smashed to be worried of collapse. As the evening careered on, I indulged in some “Ill” ceilidh break-dancing with Sarah (Tanat-Jones of Come On Gang!) to Daimh before laterplaying guitar on one of the songs in their set (COG! not Daimh…). This was lots of fun, obviously, but it was born out of badness/mischief. Mikey (Morrison) was meant to join us for a song at our album launch, but we didn’t have time to practice. I was meant to join COG! for a song or two at their single launch last month, but we had a show in Glasgow on the same night. I asked jokingly when we first met on Eigg what song they wanted me to play on and Sarah convinced me to wind Mikey up about it until they played. Then it ended up actually happening. Sorry Mikey. The rest of their set was flippin’ brilliant and led to me thrashing about like a muppet, yet again. I would dearly have loved to have been able to stay conscious and upright for Gummi Bako and Massacre Cave at 6am, but we’d just had a mental busy week and, alas it was the cold, cold tent for me.

Sunday

When we were heading back down to the ferry port on the Sunday, our very polite-seeming, female driver came out with and absolutely cracker. When asked how we were feeling, we groggily responded unanimously with “Fine”, to which she responded “F.I.N.E, that's F***ing Incapable of Normal Expression, isn't it?”. Which I guess is kind of similar to what the weekend had been: Good humoured and full of pleasant surprises. The ferry home was notable for the presence of a whale alongside us. Malcolm Middleton took a moment out of feeling seasick to observe that it could be Johnny in wet suit trying to give us one last festival thrill, the wry bugger.

Thanks to Johnny, thanks to Sarah and thanks to Kenny. What an adventure.

I think someone wants to go home....

Presenting: Ayetunes vs Peenko 3

The wait is over, it's the third in the series of Ayetunes vs Peenko gigs and what a come back we have in store for you. On Friday the 5th of November, we will be joined by three of the most exciting up and coming artists in Scotland, The Seventeenth Century, Come On Gang! and I Build Collapsible Mountains. Being the hobo's that we are, we will be relocating to the Classic Grand for this one, it promises to be a corker of an evening, we'd be chuffed to bits if some of you could come down and spend Guy Fawkes Night with some real fireworks!



The Seventeenth Century - Roses In The Park


Come On Gang! - Fortune Favours The Brave


I Build Collapsible Mountains - Rails

Tickets for the gig are on sale now, you can buy them directly from us at Peenko Big Cartel, which has the added bonus of there being no booking fees and free postage. Alternatively, you can buy them at Ticketweb or you can buy them in person and online at Ticket Scotland.
We look forward to seeing some of you coming down and celebrating an evening of some of the finest music this country has to offer.

Friday Freebies

Come on Gang!
Having already been featured this week in my Scots Way-Hay feature, it's pretty obvious that there is a lot of love for the Edinburgh trio this week. They have just posted up their new single for free download on their homepage, make sure you check it out as 'Fortune Favours The Brave' is an absolute belter of an indie pop tune.

Fruit Tree Foundation
The Fruit Tree Foundation is a new independent project in Scotland led by Rod Jones (Idlewild) & Emma Pollock in partnership with The Mental Health Foundation, Scottish Wave of Change and Breathing Space Scotland. They've managed to rope together a whole host of great Scottish artists to collaborate on an album exploring mental health and wellbeing. Artists that are taking part include including James Graham (Twilight Sad), Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit), Rod Jones (Idlewild), Jill O’Sullivan (Sparrow and the Workshop), Emma Pollock, Karine Polwart, Jenny Reeve, Alasdair Roberts and James Yorkston. The album is out on the 1st of October, with gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow scheduled for Friday the 1st and Saturday the 2nd respectively. Two bonus tracks are available as free downloads here: 'I Forgot the Fall' by Rod Jones & Scott Hutchison and 'Favourite Son' by Emma Pollock, Jill O’Sullivan & James Graham.

Belle and Sebastian
This week saw a very warm welcome return of the Glasgow indie royalty Belle and Sebastian, they are giving away new single, 'Write About Love' the lead track from their forthcoming album. It will be initially available from for a very limited time as a free download so make sure you're quick off the mark with this one.

Butcher Boy
In 2009, Butcher Boy released their second album 'React or Die', at the time I think I heralded it as the new 'Tigermilk', I might well have been getting a bit carried away with myself, but it was an amazing record. If it passed you by, then now is the time to do some catching up as they have posted up 'Clockwork' from it for free download on their Bandcamp. The band have a new album due out in early 2011, plus they're also supporting Belle & Sebastian at their Barrowlands show on the 21st of December.

Tired Pony
Gary Lightbody's new super group have posted up a free download of a new track not on the album, if you want to get yourself a copy of 'I Finally Love This Town' you need to 'Like it' on Facebook.

Cry Parrot
Winning Sperm Party have posted up a free compilation compiled by Scottish promoters Cry Parrot. It features tracks by Adam Stafford, Gummy Stumps and Cheers, it's yours for free, just follow the link.

Vampire Weekend
The indie super stars new album might not have been everyone's cup of tea, but hey what do the kids know these days. The band are back in Scotland at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh on the 28th of November, folk on their mailing list were treated to a remix of 'White Sky' by Basement Jaxx, you can download it here.

Flip Banshee
Bathgate's pop-rockers Flip Banshee have posted up four tracks on their Bandcamp page for free download, just click the link and get downloading.

Sigur Ros
The Icelandic post-rockers have a whole host of tunes up on their site for free download, including some older material, more recent tunes, plus a whole host of live recordings. What a generous bunch they are, you can find all of these here.

Sucioperro
JP Reid the other half of Marmaduke Duke that isn't Simon Neil from Biffy's, main band,
Sucioperro have a free download of their song, 'Running From All That Doesn't Tempt You' in exchange for a tweet.

Dr Dog
The Americana outfit have posted a free download from their new album, 'Shame, Shame', you can get in exchange for a tweet or Facebook like.

Wintersleep
New track 'Trace Decay' is up for grabs, give them your email address and they''ll send you a link to download it for free.

Bronto Skylift
A few weeks I posted this 'freebie', then the band didn't actually upload the link, leaving me to look like a bit of a bell end (nothing new I might add). Well now said freebie is actually up for you to download, get yourself a copy of their track 'Wolf' for free on their Bandcamp page.

Kowalskiy's Komplimentary Korner

Some of you might have noticed that last weeks Freebies lacked a freebie from 'the Doc', our good friend took a week off from blogging, but now he's back with four downloads to make up for his absence. The first is from Mountain Man, who strangely enough are 3 girls from Vermont, the country-tinged vocal harmony group supported Jonsi during the week and they have two songs up for free download on their Bandcamp.
The second freebie comes courtesy of Icelandic outfit, For A Minor Reflection, they are giving away their track and video of 'Dansi Dans', taken from their new self-released album over here.
The third freebie comes from singer songwriter, Goodtimes Goodtimes, if you register for the his fan list then he will send you a free copy of The Fortune Teller Song.


The Runt of the Litter.....

Lastly we have a track which neither of us want to put our names to, but hey fuck it, it's free, it comes from hottly tipped (I fucking hate that phrase - as it's usually turns out to be something pish like Florence and her cunty Machine or the like) singer Florrie (that sounds familiar, can't she think of an original name?) who is giving away some free tunes on her homepage.

Scots Way-Hay #32 - Come on Gang!

This coming Friday, Come on Gang! release their new single 'Fortune Favours The Brave', it's one of the best pop songs I have heard all year, not only that, but they're also giving it away for free. If you've never come across the Edinburgh trio then boy are you in for one hell of a treat, it would be pretty lazy of me to simply bracket them as indie-pop starlets as there is so much more going on here. The most obvious thing that makes them stand out is that lead singer Sarah is also their drummer, live they're tighter than a hipsters skinny jeans, that and they make amazingly catchy pop tunes. Having already played at the Reading & Leeds festivals, T in the Park and SXSW, the band are all set to take make some serious waves with the release of their new single (or at least they will if there's any fucking justice in the world).


Would you care to introduce yourself?

SARAH: We are Mikey, Rob and Sarah, three piece Edinburgh pop merchants Come On Gang!


How would you describe the music you make?

SARAH: Take the largest number you can think of, multiply it by three, take away two, turn right and you’re there.

MIKEY: Pretty honest I guess. I love that all we really care about is writing the best songs we can and we never really give a seconds thought to genres and crap like that.

ROB: Better banter than jesus? I'm pretty sure the Beatles quote used "bigger" rather than "better banter", but I'm sticking with my first answer.


How did you come together as a band?

SARAH: It was both by accident and design. Our initial basis was the art college in Edinburgh where we met and where we wrote our first songs, but Rob and Mikey lived together at the time and that’s how they knew each other.

MIKEY: Sarah forgot to mention how many guitarists they 'auditioned' before they found me. I think it almost reached double figures. In hindsight, I don't think they found me as much as settled for me. Either way, they're stuck now and I get the last laugh!

ROB: I told Mikey I'd give him one of my balls to be in a band with him (true story), but I think geographic convenience was the deal clincher.

How did you start out making music?

SARAH: I’ve been playing the drums and singing my whole life and also I’ve always been a writer. So by the time I got to about 17 I was writing crap adolescent songs and playing in my teacher’s band at school. Then, when I started hanging out with non-teachers, and no longer played dodgy versions of You Really Got Me, I started putting my own imagination to good use and I’ve been honing it ever since.

MIKEY: Yep played in loads of bands as a kid (including my teenage band playing a couple of shows with Rob's teenage band, but Rob doesn't remember any of this. The dick.) Always written tunes and just thought it would be good to start playing in bands again.


ROB: Mikey's right, I don't remember him. But I do remember the drummer from his band - that guy used to drum topless because he was totally awesome. At that point of course, I didn't write music, I just played covers of Guns N Roses, Limp Bizkit and Manic Street Preachers. Good times. Anyway, in my final year of high school I started writing stuff for the guitar, then writing lyrics, then piano, then bass. These days I'll happily write for any instrument that makes noise.


What process goes into the way you write songs?

SARAH: It depends, we usually come into the practise room and one of us might have a ditty in their head and then we all work it out and build it into a song, someone adds a chorus and so on. There have also been times when one of us has a clear idea of how the song will sound and that’s quite straightforward. And I write the lyrics, most of the time, as I love rhyming patterns, they’re a lot like drumming rhythms. Although we all listen to different music, we’re of similar temperaments and our songs often get written quite rapidly.


MIKEY: Sarah's spot on. As far as the guitars go though, the parts need to be interesting to keep my attention. There's seems to be a lot of guitarists around who make whole albums without a single memorable guitar line or sound and, to me, that would be a horrible existence.

ROB: Every once in a while, I'll see a new band that just blows me away. After a night like that, I desperately need to go home and write music - can't stop myself. Most of the best stuff I write starts like that.


Who are your big musical influences?

SARAH: I love songs that tell stories, so things like Fairport Convention or Johnny Cash, and that upbeat-downbeat tension in Motown and Philadelphia records. But there’s a big part of me that just loves a big, strong, stompy song, which is why T-Rex is my all-time favourite band.

MIKEY: We're all into very different music and I think it comes through when you hear a bunch of our songs back-to-back. There's no solid influences on the band as a whole though, not musical anyway, so we each just dip into our own wee stash of faves. When you write songs it often feels like you've discovered them rather than written them, and I love that feeling.

ROB: Like Mikey said, we all have a lot of different influences, and it's hard to see how they meld together into the end result. Par example: I love Otis Redding, I love Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, I love Eels. It's a weird mystery of songwriting that these disparate influences can end up in anything cohesive, but I reckon that's part of the fun!


Is Sarah the only female singing drummer in Scotland/The World?

SARAH: There are girls who sing and girls who drum of course, both in Scotland and the world . But I haven’t seen anyone else do exactly what I do. It’s the best feeling in the world, doing both. It’s brilliant.

MIKEY: Well Karen Carpenter's dead, so I thought we were okay, but I've been starting to worry about these guys recently

ROB: Other girls can sing, other girls can sing, and women are supposed to be good at multitasking. So in theory we should be able to teach an army of Tanat-Jones clones. But none would be as awesome as our Sarah.


Is it true that your music once caused a man to dance so hard that his trousers split?

SARAH: that’s nothing. Our music once caused a drunk man wearing a questionably-stained kilt to expose himself on the royal mile, though that was in the middle of the Edinburgh Festival so normal rules don’t apply.

MIKEY: Yes it's true - here's a shit photo of it. We also caused a fully grown man in a suit to start literally clawing at his face with glee; I've never seen such joy manifested before or since.

ROB: The morning after a particularly heavy night at GoNorth in Inverness, someone showed me a naked video of that same guy demonstrating the "mangina". That night was brilliant carnage actually - but thankfully there was no video evidence of me afterwards!


Most gangs have ‘tags’ which they spray paint around their territory. How do Come on Gang! scare off rival bands?

SARAH: We get Mikey to go round their house with a rounders bat.

MIKEY: Tru dat. I've got 'Gangster' tattoed across my knuckles (and '4 Life' inside my bottom lip) so when Mikey "The Enforcer" Morrison comes round, they shit it. Basically.

ROB: And you know how some people scare people off with dogs? My Dad has donkeys at his house, which we can borrow - they are easily three times as good as dogs. To be clear, he doesn't keep them INSIDE his house...

What are your plans for the rest of the year and beyond? Do you have any new releases planned for any time soon?

SARAH: We’ve got major plans afoot, our single Fortune Favours the Brave is available as a free download from September 10th; after that, we’ll be touring the UK and Ireland. Hot on the heels of that, we’re releasing another single out into the world, with lots more touring and an album release in the new year. We’re also planning a web-based online tour diary which will feature artwork, photographs and exclusive news and work that will reveal what it’s like to be on tour, as we think it’s a good way to link the worlds of art and music, and get people more involved in the realities of life in a band . And of course we’ll be writing new material and experimenting with New Wave directional clothing, possibly.

MIKEY: The rest of 2010? Apart from the single/tour/album etc, I'm really keen to add a few more desserts to my repertoire. Right now I make a very popular banoffee pie but that trick's getting old, so I might look towards a pavlova or some sort of tart. I also really need to pass my driving test, seriously.

ROB: Single releases, touring... I think the next year is gonna be a whole lot of fun! Might get Mikey to bring some of his pavlovas on tour, but I'm not into tarts. We're better than that.

Fortune Favours The Brave by Come On Gang!


Come on Gang! 's new single 'Fortune Favours The Brave' will be available for free download on Friday (I'll remind you again in this weeks Freebies post). It's one of the best pop tunes you're likely to hear all year, make sure you check it out, if this sets the benchmark for their forthcoming, then we are for a massive treat. They officially launch the single at The Caves in Edinburgh this Friday, the first 200 folk through the door will receive a free handmade copy of the single. Support on the evening comes from FOUND and Jesus H Foxx, now that's what I call a line up! The band are also undertaking a massive tour of Scotland calling at the following venues;

Aberdeen Snafu - Thurs 9th
Edinburgh The Caves - Fri 10th
Dundee Dukes Corner - Sat 11th
Glasgow Captain’s Rest - Tues 14th
Inverness Hootanannys - Fri 17th
Aviemore Bridge Inn - Sat 18th
Bathgate The Attic - Sun 19th
Island of Eigg, Inner Hebrides Away Game Festival - Sat 25th

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