Friday Freebies

French Wives
Exciting times lay ahead for Glasgow folk-pop outfit, French Wives, in just a matter of weeks time the five piece will be heading stateside to represent Scotland at this years SXSW, after which they'll be venturing north for Canadian Music Week. As if that wasn't exciting enough the band also have the release of their forthcoming debut album, ‘Dream of the Inbetween’ to look forward to. If their new single, Younger, is anything to go by then we should be in for a bit of a treat. The song is the second single to be taken from the album and it's available for free download on their Bandcamp page, there's also a nifty wee video to accompany it. The band are playing a SXSW fundraising gig next Friday at Stereo in Glasgow, with support from Bwani Junction and Galleries.

Meow and A Mew
Not to be confused with the one man electro outfit Miaoux Miaoux, this new project in fact a collaboration between Phillip Taylor from PAWS and Christina Tweeddale from indie pop outfit, Boycotts and fuck me it's a bit good. They've just released an EP entitled 'Lasso The Moon' on the CATH RECORDS label, which sees Phil and Christina taking up the writing duties for a song each and the results are something pretty fucking spectacular. Find out for yourself by downloading Lasso The Moon for nowt here.

North Atlantic Oscillation
It's been a couple of years since we heard anything from Edinburgh trio, North Atlantic Oscillation. Having been a bit obsessed with their track, Cell Count, I have admit that I was a wee bit disappointed with their debut album Grappling Hooks. With their follow up album, Fog Electric, due out at the end of April the band are giving away a track from it for nowt on Bandcamp.

Queen Jane
It's not often that you see the words Cumbernauld and exciting in the same sentence, but here goes. Exciting new Cumbernauld outfit, Queen Jane released their debut EP, Denver a few of weeks back there. Their sounds not a million miles away from the likes of Vampire Weekend and Bombay Bicycle Club, but don't count that against them as they have some catchy as fuck pop tunes on the go. You can download the lead track from their EP for nowt on their Bandcamp page.

Scottish Fiction
It seems that the whole bloggers releasing free EPs thing has really taken off, first off we had Mr Kowalskiy and his excellent series of EPs featuring an array of Scottish talent and now we have Scottish Fiction jumping on the bandwagon. The more the merrier I say! This months EP sees him giving away free tunes from The Dirty Demographic, Maydays, Run/Lucky/Free and Wolves Of Winter. Further information can be found here.

Permwhale Recordings
The Edinburgh based label, Permwhale Recording, have posted up a whole host of free tunes from their roster, if you head on over to their Bandcamp page you'll find songs by an array of artists including Night Noise Team, Collar Up, Flooze and The Duke, Detroit.


Mad Nurse
There's one thing for sure, if you tag your music as Fucking Awesome on SoundCloud then it's going to grab folks attention. Whether you live up to that billing is another matter all together, in the case of  Edinburgh duo, Mad Nurse, I'd say that fucking awesome is quite fitting. If you head on over to the bands SoundCloud page you'll find yourself a whole host of cracking free tunes including an ace wee tune called Submissive, which I am told is more representative of the direction that the band are heading. Ones to keep an eye I reckon.

Nebyudelic
If you've emailed me in the past few months and I haven't replied to you please accept my apologies. To say that I am working through a bit of a backlog of stuff is a bit of an understatement. Nebyudelic would be a good example of my tardiness as they sent me their music way back in December and it's taken me until now to listen to it. I guess it would the lazy way to describe this would be to call it experimental, but hey I am a bit lazy and I really don't know how you would categorise it. All you need to know is that it's pretty damn good and that there are a host of free songs up for grabs on SoundCloud.

the douglas firs
Those Douglas Firs kids don't hang about, I am sure I was only just posting about one of their side projects a few weeks back, then the next thing I know they're putting out a new EP. Available on CD and cassette, the EP is also available as a free download on Bandcamp.

Stephen Harrison
If you're looking for some chilled out songs to ease you into the weekend, then Edinburgh singer-songwriter Stephen Harrison might well be the man for you. His new album Today Tomorrow is available on a pay what you want basis on Bandcamp.

Holobeams and Broken Machines
If you're a fan of artists like the Field, Boards of Canada, M83 and Orbital, then Holobeams and Broken Machines might be for you. Their latest EP, Holofractal is up for free download on SoundCloud. 

Bronto Skylift
Scotland's noisiest duo have been a bit quiet as of late, with plans afoot for future gigs they've posted up a whole host of free tunes from their debut album, The White Crow, up on their SoundCloud page.

Drunk Mule  
To finish off this weeks freebies we have a late entry from those lovely Drunk Mule boys, it must be all of a week since we last got a free tunes from the boys. This tune is called Upon Exit, Check For Signs Of Life and it's free to download on Bandcamp.

North Atlantic Oscillation - Marc Riley Session (23/03/11)

Track Listing

1. Cell Count
2. 77 Hours
3. Jesus Was A Crossmaker (Judee Sill cover)
4. Alexanderplatz

Download

North Atlantic Oscillation - Vic Galloway Session (12/04/10)

Track Listing
1. Cell Count
2. Ceiling Poem
3. Star Chamber

Download

North Atlantic Oscillation - Marc Riley Session (24/03/10)

Pic by sadbaby

Track Listing
1. Drawing Maps From Memory
2. Ceiling Poem
3. Star Chamber

Download

North Atlantic Oscillation - Vic Galloway Session (11/03/2010)

Track Listing
1. Ceiling Poem
2. I Only Have Eyes For You

Download

Friday Freebies

Pavement
The American indie-legends are set to release their best of album,
'Quarantine The Past' in March, which will feature 23 tracks spanning their entire career from 1989 to 1999. In celebration (promotion) of this, they have put a wee taster up as a free download, a remastered version of 'Gold Soundz', download yourself a copy here.

Evening Chorus
If you missed out on my post on the Evening Chorus the other week, then now is your chance to get acquainted by this rather excellent Welsh band. They have put up both of their EP's, 'All That We Had' and 'Look Forward to the Day', to download for free. Head on over to their Bandcamp page and get downloading I promise you won't regret it.

The Ruby Suns
If I am honest I would have to admit that I know very little about the music coming out of New Zealand these days, off the top of my head I could come up with three names, D4, Flight of the Conchords and these guys. If you missed out on their last album 'Sea Lions' then don't let them pass you by this time. They have put a cracking little indie pop song called 'Cranberry' up for you to download here. (Try DiS if the first link doesn't work)

FatCat
The indie label are giving away a free Sampler when you sign up to their new mailing list, in exchange you will recieve a free download of their Sampler Album featuring Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks. Sign up here.

Errors/Twilight Sad
Ever wondered what Errors would sound like if the Twilight Sad got to remix them, then wonder no more. Andy from the Sad's remix of 'Bridge or Cloud' is up to download for free over at the NME's website. Errors new album 'Come Down With Me' is out on the 3rd of March, get it pencilled in your diaries.

Mogwai
Mogwai are set to release their first ever live album, 'Special Moves' on Rock Action Records this spring and in order to wet your appetite a little they're giving away a free MP3 of the song '2 Rights Make 1 Wrong' in exchange for your details over at this minisite www.mogwaispecialmoves.com


Kathryn Williams
I got sent her album the other day, pretty damn good ti was too. Apparently it's her fifth album, I must admit that she had totally passed me by, when I first got the album I admit that I actually thought why the fuck have I been sent the new Kathryn Jenkins album. My fail. Her new album, 'The Quickening’ is out on the 22nd of February, as a wee taster she's put up alive recording of new song 'Sustain Pedal' up to download, to get yourself a copy all you have to do is sign up to her mailing list here.

Insound
The online indie store is giving away a whole host of free MP3's,
including tracks from Vampire Weekend, Nirvana, Lou Barlow, Sea Wolf, DOOM and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, just click here.

SubPop
Every week it seems as if I am posting about some kind of freebie Sub Pop, this week it's their 'Cyber Sex Digital Sampler', which features among others Avi Buffalo, Nirvana, Handsome Furs, Flight of the Conchords and Vetiver. Get yourself a copy here.

North Atlantic Oscillation
I think this will be the third time that I'll have posted about this song, but seriously if you haven't already downloaded yourself a copy of 'Cell Count' get your finger oot!
You can get yourself a free cop in exchange for a tweet here.
This will be the last time I mention how great this track is, for this week at least.

Ones to Watch in 2010 #4 - North Atlantic Oscillation

You might remember me banging on about these guys a while back, if not then now is the time to download yourself a copy of 'Cell Count', one of my favourite songs on 2009. The Edinburgh-based electronic rock group are due to release their debut album this year and thanks to the wonders of the internet I managed to get a few words from the band.

Would you care to introduce yourself?

Hello. I'm Sam from the band North Atlantic Oscillation.

How would you describe the music you make?

Tuneful and unusual, hopefully.

How did you start out making music?

I like noise and patterns. Music is patterns of noise, so it's my dream medium.

What process goes into the way you write songs?

a) I get antsy, fidgety, grumpy, antisocial, insomniac and panicky. b) I write a song. c) I feel relaxed for a while. d) Back to a).

What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2010?

Our debut album Grappling Hooks comes out in late March. We played some gigs with Porcupine Tree in late 2009 which went really well, better than we expected. So we might end up playing with them again in Europe, as well as doing our own headline gigs to promote the album.

Lastly, the question that’s on everyone’s lips is it possible to blow a balloon up under water?

Excellent question, and well done for consulting musicians on matters of basic science. I imagine that it is possible but with less impressive results than blowing it up in the air, since you're displacing water, which is heavier than air at normal atmospheric pressure. Also it probably gets more difficult as you go deeper since there's more weight to blow against. Good luck inflating anything at 2000m below sea level. Piezophiles, tiny animals which live on ocean floors, have a completely different metabolism than the mesophile majority because the intense pressure (over 350 atmospheres) of their environment makes their cell membranes almost imporous.

North Atlantic Oscillation - Cell Count
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Cell Count E.P version from NAO Pictograms on Vimeo.

Friday Freebies

The Plimptons
As it's Hallowe'en Glasgow's very own '24 limbed Death-Pop leviathan' are giving away their new single 'I Hate Hallowe'en' for you to download for free, plus if you get yourself down to the Flying Duck nice and early tonight then provided you are one of the first 100 folk to turn up, then they'll give you a physical copy for free. Can't really grumble at that, go forth and download this pop gem here.

John B McKenna
I caught John B the other week at one othe pre-album launch shows for applesofenergy, mightily impressed I was too. If you are fan of your classic singer/songwriter, then I strongly suggest you check out his 9 new songs, which are free to download from here.
If this sounds like it'd be up your street then you can catch him in the flesh at Sleazys this Tuesday (3rd Nov), again with the aforementioned apples.

Rob St John
Having sold out all of the physical copies of their Alchemy and Tipping EP's, RSJ have now put them up to download for free from here.

North Atlantic Oscillation
The Metro compared them to a Scottish 'Animal Collective', so no pressure there then. Personally I am really loving their song 'Cell Count', these guys really will go places, go forth and download said song from the NME website. NAO release their debut EP 'Call Signs' on Kscope this coming Monday, go forth and splash some cash.

"It's amazing what they can do..........."