Jo Schornikow
I'll warn you now, I am going to be mentioning Jo Schornikow from the Shivers a lot over the next month or so. In case you somehow missed the memo, she's going to be touring the UK next month with Scott Rudd, and I'm putting on her Glasgow date featuring a bill which will also include Mitchell Museum. In case you haven't already heard any of Jo's music, then you're in luck as there is a free download of her song 'Bird's Nest' up for grabs on SoundCloud. Alternatively, if you follow this link you can find that same song, plus a free download from Scott Rudd. As if that wasn't enough, if you head on over to nyctaper, then you can download yourself a live recording of one of Jo's shows (hey that rhymes!).
Kowalskiy
I do like to think that I know a fair bit about up and coming Scottish bands, but I have to hold my hands up and admit that I had only heard of one of the six bands that appear on Kowalskiy's latest free EP. Not that I am complaining as once again the doc has unearthed some cracking wee tunes. If you fancy checking out what M A D I S O N, Naked Strangers, Plurals (the stand out band for me - nice find Mr Kowalskiy!), Saint Max, Scary Shapes and Thank You So Nice sound like, then get downloading here.
GUMS!
Made up of members of Orphans, Collar Up and The Plimptons, Glasgow super group GUMS! of course. The band have come together to release a free one off EP called "A Glasgow Summer", taking their infleunces from the likes of Tom Waits, Arab Strap and The Buzzcocks, this a cracking wee release, that's more than worthy of your attention on a Friday night.
ZED PENGUIN
If you like your music to be loud and scuzzy, then Edinburgh's ZED PENGUIN might well be your cup of tea. Their new single 'Heathens' is free download from their Bandcamp page now.
Sean Armstrong
Former Fresh Meat starlet Sean Armstrong is one prolific young fella, every other week he seems to be cropping up with something new. This week he's stuck up two new track on his SoundCloud page, both of which are free to download.
James Mackenzie
Invernesian singer-songwriter, James Mackenzie has posted up a free download of a demo of his song, Comfortable. Stream it below, if you like it then you can download it from his Bandcamp page.
Drunk Mule
It wouldn't be a proper Friday Freebies if I didn't have a free download from the Drunk Mule boys. It may well be pissing it down outside, so why not put a little smile on your face by downloading their new catchy wee tune, Lovesick, for nowt from Bandcamp.
Now if I had been super organised I would have had this post up much earlier today. Normally I write my Friday Freebies posts on a Thursday night whilst my good lady wife watches the soaps. Rather than sit in front of my computer all night (which funnily enough is what I have been doing this evening), I decided to head an see Behold, The Old Bear at Bloc. Bloody good it was too, even if I did I have to leave early to catch my train. Although I write a music blog I often feel that I am not out at enough gigs these days. Then again back in the day I was pretty much out every other night. Anyway, enough of my inane ramblings, on with this weeks belated Friday Freebies...
Randolph's Leap
As I already said I was out last night, normally during the week I tend not to drink, however, last night I decided to treat myself as I had a little bit of celebrating to do. In case you haven't already heard, the line up for this years T Break got announced today, featuring amongst others Capitals, Beerjacket and Randolph's Leap. I guess it's not much of a secret how much I love 'the Leap', so it's great to see all of the hard work that we've put in come to fruition. That and I can now tell my folks something that I have been involved in that they will a frame of reference for. Anyway, enough about me, you're only here for the free stuff so here we go... To celebrate the fact that they'll be playing at this years T in the Park,the band have made their double A-side single 'Counting Sheep / Deep Blue Sea' free to download on Bandcamp.
Plastic Animals
It's been a wee while since we heard anything from the Edinburgh outfit, Plastic Animals, so it's nice to have them back. The band release the follow up to their last EP, 'A Dark Spring' on the 2nd of June with another equally as good EP called Automaton. As a wee teaser, the band are releasing the lead track, 'Ghosts' as a free download on Bandcamp. You can also catch them playing live next month in Glasgow at the launch night for the Touch Sensitive album at the Old Hairdressers (across from Stereo) alongside our very own Adam Ross from Randolph's Leap.
PAWS
I don't know if it's just my Twitter feed, but it seems as if half of Scotland has relocated down to Brighton for this weekends Great Escape Festival and I can't help but be a little jealous. I mean where else are you going to get to see The Twilight Sad, We Were Promised Jetpacks and PAWS all on the same bill in an intimate venue. Certainly not in Glasgow that's for sure. On the plus side though, PAWS have a new EP coming out soon on cassette. I don't know about you, but I am really loving the rebirth of cassettes and just because they annoy Kev from Avalanche. For now though, all you need to know is that Misled Youth the lead track, is available for free download on SoundCloud.
Sean Armstrong
Lo-fi expermintalist, Sean Armstrong has just released his new album Hippy Bullshit on Orange dayglo cassette. If you're not a fan of tapes or you just want to check out more, then you're in luck as the album is free to download on Bandcamp.
The Leg
Earlier tonight I found myself listening to the latest episode of Cloud Sounds, one of my favourite podcasts run by a guy called Ted from Manchester, who's patter cracks me up. In his latest episode he played a few Scottish tracks, our very own Son(s), Ambulances and The Leg. Which reminded me that I had fully intended to include The Leg in Friday Freebies fucking donkeys ago, but somehow forgot. So here they are, the Edinburgh outfit released their album 'An Eagle to Saturn' on Song, By Toad at the end of last month. I still haven't listened to it, mainly because I forgot I had it. I have heard the single from it, 'Bake Yourself Silly', which is pretty fucking damn good. Time to get my finger and give the album a listen I reckon.
Night Noise Team
Edinburgh outfit, Night Noise Team have a new EP coming out in June called Pieces, in anticipation of it's release their PR firm, the excellent, A Badge of Friendship have posted up Picking Up The Pieces as a free download on SoundCloud.
Eugene McGuinness
If you listen to 6Music on a regular basis then you're bound to have come across Eugene McGuinness at some point. If you don't listen to 6, then shame on you. Shame on you indeed. His last single 'Shotgun' was getting some pretty hefty airplay a month or so ago, you might recall it's the song that starts off like the theme to Batman before descending into a catchy wee bugger of a pop tune. If you have no idea what I am talking about or even if you do, all that you really need to know is that this song and his other single, Lions, are both up free download on his Facebook page.
Isobel Campbell
I will probably use this for a future 'We've Got It Covered' post, so I'll keep this brief, Isobel has released a cover of Franz Ferdinand's 'Walk Away', which she is giving away as a free download in exchange for your email address. Talking of 'We've Got It Covered' posts, tomorrow is my 100th cover post, so make sure yo check back in for a special wee cover that I had specially recorded for me from Monoganon.
Mike Nisbet
Last years album 'Vagrant' caused a bit of a commotion amongst the Scottish blogosphere towards the tail end of the year. So much so that he even appeared in the BAMS top ten for 2011. If you haven't already checked the Oban born singer-songwriter out, then you should start off by checking out his Coffee & Cigarettes EP, which is free to download on Bandcamp.
Luminous Monsters
If 12 minute psychedelic/progressive/drone/cosmick/freeform ecstasies/ersatz orientalism sounds like your kind of thing, then should check out Luminous Monsters EP 'Golden Scales, Blazing Plumage' which is free to download from Bandcamp.
Queen Jane
You might remember Queen Jane from a few weeks back as they were one of my Fresh Meat Monday starlets, well now that the Cumbernauld four piece have made their Denver EP free to download, you've got no excuse for not checking them out. You can catch them playing live at Scottish Fiction Presents at the Captain's Rest on Sunday, 17 June alongside Michael Cassidy, Spook School and Saint Death.
Scottish Fiction
Talking of Scottish Fiction, he's just posted up the latest in his series of free EP's, featuring The King Hats, aLCATRAZkIDz, Thula Borah and Father Sculptor. You can get yourself a copy simply by heading over to his Bandcamp page.
Bacchanal Party
Last, but not least we have Glasgow outfit, Bacchanal Party, who were also announced as being one of the bands playing on this years T Break stage. If like me, you've only just heard of them, then you get yourself acquainted by downloading their album for free here.
It would be my pleasure. Hello, I'm Sean. I have a girlfriend.
How would you describe the music you make?
It's really...something. Like the inside of my head. Pretty lacklustre.
How did you start out making music?
In school I was the singer in a band called 'The Merry Womblers'. We did one gig. I wore a slimy purple shirt, got drunk and forgot all the words. It's been downhill ever since.
What process goes into the way you write songs?
The writing process is in the recording. I have an attention span of like one second so the music lacks focus. The lyrics are improvised, and the music is usually done in one take. I'm not trying to recreate any kind of idea in my head or communicate any message. My setup is a joke.
What can people expect from your live shows?
I don't play many live shows, it's a bit of an unnatural environment for me. I have to listen back to my stuff to learn how to play it. I'm usually pretty nervous. I can't imagine it's very enjoyable to watch. A few people have come up to me and said that it was good, but I think it might be because they don't want me to kill myself.
What are you listening to at the moment?
I don't really know what I like any more. I like everything. I like nothing. I don't know. I listen to a lot of Ed Sheeran, Professor Green, Ferry Corsten, Black Stone Cherry etc.
What can we expect to see/hear from you in the future?
Just gonna try and release hundreds of albums and destroy the world.
Invisibles
On my hunt for freebies to share with you all I quite often find myself 'favouriting' tweets that mention free downloads from Scottish bands that might be worth checking out. Most of the time I tend to find something that I like or think's half decent, other times there's stuff that just that bad that I can't bring myself to write anything about it. So earlier in the week when I read about Invisibles, a collective conceived by JP Reid of Sucioperro and Marmaduke Duke fame, I did find myself pre-judging the songs. "They'll not be my cup of tea" I thought, how wrong I was, as this my friend is fucking banging. Fans of folk Fuck Buttons and Union of Knives, actually anyone who likes music should really check this out. Oh and it's not technically a freebie, it's one of those pay what you want deals, either way check it out.
Tall Tales
In case you didn't get the memo, The Social Services changed their name to Tall Tales a wee while back, thankfully though they've not lost any of their charm. The Glasgow based quartet have just released their new EP 'All we can do is sing', which is sure to warm the cockles during these freezing cold nights. You can help yourself to a free download of the EP over on their Bandcamp page.
Le Thug
What with everything I get sent these days, it can be pretty tough to try and give it all the attention that it deserves, I quite simply don't have the time anymore. More often than not I find myself judging whether I like something or not within a couple of listens. One of the things that will make me pay more interest is when I get sent something that's a bit different to what I would normally listen to. One such artist that pricked my attention this week were ambient Glasgow duo, Le Thug, who have just posted up a whole load of demos/possibly a mini album, I'm not sure. All you need to know that songs are free to download here.
Sean Armstrong
Not content with being one of the most talked about bands in Scotland at the moment, those pesky boys from PAWS are also involved in running their own tape based label, CATH Records. Not only do they love using their Caps Lock button, they also love their lo-fi music, which is all good with me. The latest offering from the label comes from a fella by the name of Sean Armstrong, who's got a whopping 22 tracks available for free download on the CATH Records Bandcamp page. Veering from quiet Daniel Johnston-esq tunes, to full on bat shit crazy experimental tunes, there's some great suff on here that's well worth exploring.
Scottish Fiction
First we had Kowalskiy giving away monthly free EPs, now we get spoiled twice a month with fellow blogger Scottish Fiction getting in on the action. If you fancy some free tunes from A Band Called Quinn, Bottle of Evil, Mickey 9's and Blank Canvas then all you need to do is head on over to Bandcamp and download January's compilation for free.
Proto Idiot
Another week and yet another freebie from one of my favourite sources of DIY pop music, Odd Box Records. If you miss the Moldy Peaches then you might want to check out this free download only single from the forthcoming Proto Idiot album 'Idiot Proto'.
Drunk Mule
How I managed to overlook this free download from Drunk Mule I'll never know. Yes boys and girls, they're giving away yet another free tune, I don't know about you, but I can barely keep up with them these days. This one's called 'Las Vegas Divorces' and it might well be their best yet.
Wild Nothing
Next month sees Virginia's indie-pop outfit releasing the follow up to 2010's Golden Haze EP. As a wee prelude of what to expect you can download their new single, "Nowhere", for free over on Stereogum.
Blindfolds
If
you're looking something a bit down and dirty, then Glasgow
four-piece, Blindfolds, might well be right up your street. The Rock
& Roll/ Psychedelic blues outfit have made their track Taste
Young Blood available as a free download on their SoundCloud
page. If you like what you hear then you can catch them live next month
at King Tuts on the 22nd of March when they supporting 'The Minutes'.
