Help Ma Boab, It's The 62 Word Review

Hi folks,

You can get your single and EP releases into me at canavan7 [at] gmail.com. Just stick '62 word review' into the subject headline. Looking for Scottish acts in particular but anything else is fine too.

Thanks,

Boab 

Kill The Waves – Oak Tree

Oak Tree's military marching beat, smooth bass, atmospheric backing vocals and understated orchestration indicate influences such as Interpol. It's expertly put together, with intricate layers continuously building and building to great effect. B-side Friend still has that dark edge but takes on an electro styling, it's not unlike some of Meursault's second album material at times. Give these guys a listen, recommended.

Release details for the final, mastered version will be announced shortly.

Blank Canvas – The Wrecker

The Wrecker sounds like some sort of industrial Simple Minds - no bad thing. An airy and expansive sound is underpinned and driven by a clear urgency in the bass and drums whereas tighter-wound B-side Byron is more typical early-80s post-punk. I've reviewed quite a few 80s revival bands these last few months, Blank Canvas are among the best of the lot. Excellent.

Available now from Bandcamp.

Middleton Hall – First Bus Out Of Town

Some nice breezy pop here that has the feel of some of The Eagles summery output. It is lyrically a little lightweight, and maybe a touch long but it's early days for this band so we can see past that. I wouldn't really listen to something like this myself but it's the kind of thing fans of Teenage Fanclub and Big Star.

Available to download for free on August 27th from Bandcamp.  

Fin.

Fresh Meat Monday - Kill The Waves

Would you care to introduce yourself? 

We're Kill The Waves. We've been a band since late 2008, and we all live in Glasgow.  


How would you describe the music you make?  

Our music is a sort of weird, dreamy pop music. We're influenced by artists like Mogwai, Four Tet and Burial. Lots of electronic beats and reverberating guitars.  


How did you start out making music?  

We've all been making music in various guises since our youth, but we came together in stages over the last 3 year's. We all come from slightly different musical backgrounds too, from Scottish folk to metal.  


What process goes into the way you write songs?  

Our songwriting process has changed a little recently, with the addition of John -Luke on drums. It's much more collaborative and natural now. Tim very much runs the show lyrically, but the music is a combined effort. It's a bit more dance orientated now as well.  


What can people expect from your live shows?  

With the addition of JL, our live shows have more punch now, where previously they were based on electronics. Hopefully, our music is quite danceable, so you can have a bit of a boogie. A mellow boogie.


What are you all listening to at the moment?  

I'm listening to a great French group called Francois and the Atlas Mountains.  


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

Our first single is out on Strange Fish at the end of April, a double A-side of Friend and Oak Tree, and hopefully we'll get the chance to do an album this year too which would be great. Lots great shows too!


Kill The Waves - The Oak Tree (Radio 1 Session)

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Friday Freebies

 

Butcher Boy

If you sign up to Damaged Goods mailing list then they'll send you 11 free tracks, which includes a song from Glasgow outfit Butcher Boy's  recent album Helping Hands.

Field Music 
Arguably the most under-rated band in the UK at the moment, Field Music are a abnd who continue to just get better and better. They're soon going to release their new album Plumb, as a wee teaser they've posted up the track “A New Town” for free download on Stereogum.

Evil Hand
Derek Bates, one half of Bottle of Evil, has just made his new mini album 'Rain Check' free to download on Bandcamp, rather ace it is too.

Holy Esque
The most exciting new material that popped into my inbox this week came from Glasgow outfit, Holy Esque, who's tune 'Rose' was one of the most exciting new things I have heard in a while. You don't need to take my word for it, just head on over to their SoundCloud page where you can download the song for free.

Kill The Waves
Electronic dream-pop outfit, Kill The Waves apparently blew everyone away with their appearance at King Tut's earlier in the week. If you fancy finding out what all the fuss is about then just head on over to their SoundCloud page where you will find a whole host of free tunes up for grabs.

FOUND
If you head on over to the FOUND Bandcamp page you can find yourself a  free download of the ComputerScheisse remix of Anti Climb Paint.

Eugene McGuinness
It's been fecking ages since we last heard anything from Eugene McGuinness, it's been that long that I simply presumed that he'd decided to call it a day. Thankfully he hasn't given up the ghost and even more excitingly if you head over to Facebook and 'like' his page he'll give you a free download of his new song 'Thunderbolt'.


DJ Shadow
You can download yourself another free track from the DJ Shadow's most recent album, The Less You Know, The Better. Download 'Give Me Back The Nights' for free here.


Bones & Money
Aberdonian label, Tuff Wax Records continue to impress, their most recent release comes from Bones & Money who have posted up their new single Close​/​Anxious for free download on Bandcamp.


Nerina Pallot
A free MP3 download of Long Tall Grass Of Summer by Nerina Pallot  is available here.


Khol
Experimental Glasgow outfit, Khol have made their EP 'Medicine Songs' free to download on Bandcamp.

Tim Chaplin
One half of the Factory Kids, Tim Chaplin has just released a new a mini album, Due Style, which you can download for free on his Bandcamp page.

Talking More Rubbish Than Normal...

I know I keep moaning about how tired I am, today I have done relatively little but I still feel whacked. Please take this into consideration if you start to think that this post is a bit of ramble...


This week sees innovative arts facility, Platform celebrating their 5th birthday, in the next few weeks they have a series of special gigs lined up. Based out in Easterhouse in the East End of Glasgow, Platform will be hosting Ethiopian, Mulatu Astatke on the 30th June, were he will be playing his only Scottish show. On the 1st of July, they have Zu, a 3 piece from Rome who play a style of music best described as math/ jazz/ prog/ metal and a few others, will be at Platform, then the following night Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells will be playing songs from their fabulous new album, Everything's Getting Younger. This will be their first Scottish show since release and it promises to be something rather special, support comes from The Bill Wells Trio featuring Gail Brand. Details on tickets and the like can be found on the Platform website.




Edinburgh's finest, The Last Battle have new EP coming out next month. It's called, 'The Springwell E.P' and as a wee teaser they've put up a new song, Viv Nicholson to stream on their Soundcloud. The song is all about the tragic tale of 1960's Littlewoods pool's winner Viv Nicholson, who also featured on the sleeve of The Smiths single 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'. You can pre-order the EP via their Bandcamp which includes an instant download of this track.
The band are having a couple of launch nights to celebrate the EPs release with two gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow. On the 30th of June they'll be at the Wee Red Bar in Edinburgh, support comes from King Creosote, plus a DJ set from wur blogger mate Stuart from Tidal Wave of Indifference. Last I heard this gig was sold out online, however, Avalanche have a few left so if you fancy going get your skates on. Talking off blogger mates, my partner in crime Jim Ayetunes will be putting on the Glasgow gig at Stereo, with support from the Second Hand Marching Band and Loch Awe. You can get tickets for this gig online via Jim's Big Cartel page. They round up their tour with a gig up in Aberdeen at Cafe Drummonds along with Second Hand Marching Band & R.M Hubbert. Tickets for that gig are available here.

Viv Nicholson by thelastbattlemusic

In terms of hotness, I think it's safe to say that Discopolis are the hottest band in Scotland at the moment, or at least that's what those in the know seem to be saying (I wouldn't include myself under this bracket). Since they created such a buzz about themselves after the T Break judges started creaming their pants over them. In the past month they've supported FOUND at a Detour night in Edinburgh, they're now about to release a single with uber cool label, Eli & Oz, and that's before they've even graced the stage at T in the Park. So is all the hype justified, well I'll let you make your own mind up as you can stream their new song 'We Should Have Been Born In Canada' below. I know I have said it before, but the only thing I dislike about this lot was the fact that it wasn't me that first 'discovered' them.

Discopolis - We Should Have Been Born In Canada by discopolismusic

Next Friday night Glasgow Podcart are taking over Bar Bloc in Glasgow for another of their Mix Up Mayhem Nights. This time round they've roped in So Many Animal Calls, Kill The Waves and The Dirty Beggars. For those of you unfamiliar with the night, the rules are pretty simple, basically each band covers each other as well as performing a well-known cover, amongst their own songs. The night kicks off at around 9pm running through until 3am, so expect things to get messy (in a good way), further details on the event can be found here.


Right time stop rambling, here's the beautiful new video from King Creosote & Jon Hopkins for their new single 'Bubble'...