Ramble Ramble Ramble: News

So you wait for one rambling news post, then along come two in one week. If you're not a fan of my tired inane ramblings then you may want to look away now...

First up, the list of acts invited to showcase at this years goNORTH were announced earlier this week. The event which sees some of the most exciting up and coming bands playing across Inverness city centre takes place on the 6th and 7th of June, in case you haven't seen the line up already it looks something like this:

Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward and Fisher, Aaron Wright, Blindfolds, Blue Sky Archives, Brown Bear and the Bandits, Cafe Disco, Campfires in Winter, Cancel The Astronauts, Cherri Fosphate, Chris Devotion and The Expectations, CLEAVERS, DARC, Dead Boy Robotics, Esperi, Fat Goth, French Wives, Galleries, Grace Weber, Graham Brown, Honningbarna, Iain Mclaughlin & The Outsiders, Ilona, John Wean, Jonathan Sebastian Knight, Lady North, Letters, Make Sparks, Mass Consensus, Matt Norris & The Moon, Maydays, Michael Cassidy, Miniature Dinosaurs, Miss Irenie Rose, Nelson Can, Olympic Swimmers, Open Swimmer, Oskar Empire, Pioneers of Love, Plum, Polaroid Fiction,  Pronto Mama, Quickbeam, Red Kites, Sebastian Dangerfield, Selective Service, Smoothiesforme, Stanley Odd, Star Wheel Press, Team Kapowski, The Little Kicks, The Machine Room, The Mirror Trap, The Mixups, The Stagger Rats, The Whisky River Band, The Winter Tradition,  Them & Us, This Silent Forest, Vigo Thieves, Washington Irving, We Came From Wolves, Where We Lay Our Heads, Xavia and Yusaf Azak.

 Having been asked to sit on the panel of judges again, I am pretty pleased to see that quite a few of my choices made it on there. Sadly there were a few that didn't make it on there, but hey you can't win them all. The next big debate will be about the four bands that we myself, Song, by Toad and The Pop Cop will want to play at our showcase night. I know who I want, but I can't quite see the other two agreeing with me. The one thing I do know for certain is that is that it's going to take a hell of a lot to top last years showcase line up of Kid Canaveral, PAWS, LightGuides and IndianRedLopez.
If you've never been to goNorth before I'd highly recommended it, although if my experiences are anything to go by, then your liver might not thank you for it.

I couldn't be arsed staying up until midnight for the announcement of the bands playing at this years Wickerman, because quite frankly all you really to know is who is going to be playing The Solus Tent this year. Having a bit of a history of unearthing some of the most exciting new bands this wee country of ours has to offer. Headlining the tent this year will be none other than other than United Fruit and Malcolm Middleton's new project, Human Don’t Be Angry, ooft! The rest of the line up looks something like this Anderson McGinty Webster Ward and Fisher, Beerjacket, Bigg Taj & Spee SixNine, Chris Devotion and The Expectations, The Cosmic Dead, Fridge Magnets, Grant Me Revenge, Hector Bizerk, Hey Enemy, Holy Mountain, Julia & The Doogans (with guests The Hidden Lane Choir), The Lafontaines, The Machine Room, Martin John Henry, The Birthday Suit, Salo, There Will Be Fireworks and Vasquez.
Sadly there will be no Wickerman adventures for me this year as I am off to AwayGame that weekend. Still though if you're thinking about heading down again it comes highly recommended. And once again your liver won't thank you for it - fuck, I am starting to see a bit of a theme to my time away from Mrs Peenko now!

The Solus Crew - They're Even Sexier In Real Life

Looking a bit closer to home, there are a fair few decent gigs coming your way in the next few months. One of which will take place next Thursday at the Captain's Rest, where Randolph's Leap will be headlining the next Communion Glasgow show. Support for the night comes from Saul Ashby, This Silent Forest, Sam Airey and Bronagh Monahan. Tickets for the gig are available to pre-order now (£6 + £1 BF).
Randolph's Leap will also be playing alongside King Creosote and The Pictish Trail at  Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket on Monday the 18th of June. The concert is being put on by the Scottish Refugee Council and British Red Cross to launch Refugee Week Scotland 2012. Tickets are available here.

It seems like every man and his dog are playing this Saturday, on top of this years Record Store Day celebrations, you have FOUND, Aidan Moffat and Miaoux Miaoux at SWG3 and Holy Mountain,What The Blood Revealed and Adam Stafford at Sleazy's. Personally I can't make it to any gigs that night as Mrs Peenko is away on a girly weekend, which means that I am on daddy duties. If I was able to make it out though, I know where I'd be headed and that'd be to the Arches to catch RM Hubbert and Martin John Henry. Sadly though I will have to console myself with my purchases from the mornings Record Store Day shopping spree.

If you already follow me on Twitter you will have seen me getting a little over excited about a gig that some of my friends at from a stolen sea have organised as part of the closing party for this years West End Festival. Check this for a line up:  We Were Promised Jetpacks, Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells, R.M. Hubbert, Remember Remember, Withered Hand, Monoganon, Wounded Knee and theapplesofenergy. Now that's what I call a beast of a line up and it's not finished there as there are still some more acts to be announced in the coming days, there should be around 20 in total. The event which takes place in Oran Mor in Glasgow takes place on Sunday the 24th of June, with gigs being held in the auditorium, the venue and the bar. Early bird tickets are available now for the bargain sum of £12 then £15 thereafter. As if that wasn't enough for you, the organisers will be installing their bespoke 5.1 Surround Sound system. Further information on the event and tickets can be found here.




Right I think I have rambled enough for one post, so I'll round this post up with the new video from Admiral Fallow for their song 'The Paper Trench' taken from their sophomore album, 'Tree Bursts In Snow' which is due out on the 21st of May. The band will also be releasing their debut album, Boots Met My Face on vinyl, which comes out on Record Store Day. You can catch the band playing live this Saturday at LoveMusic in Glasgow at 5pm.

Friday Freebies

Kowalskiy
The trouble with writing these Friday Freebies on a Thursday night is that quite often someone posts a cracking free download on the Friday and I don't have time to update the post. This happened last week when my fellow blogger, Kowalskiy posted up his latest free monthly EP, his latest offering was possibly his best to date (do I say that every month?) including tracks from Blue Sky Archives, This Silent Forest, The Sea Kings, The Spook School and my current favourite thing ever - Behold, the Old Bear (who are also coincidentally playing at Stereo tonight). You can download the EP for free from Bandcamp


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Where We Lay Our Heads 
I think I should warn you in advance that the new Where We Lay Our Heads single, Bury You. is one catchy fucking song. Seriously I haven't been able to get it out of my head all week, not that I complaining mind you. You can download the single for free over on their Bandcamp page. If you live in Edinburgh then you catch them playing live along with Letters and Loch Awe at the Wee Red Bar on Sunday night.




Woodenbox
Nothing makes me want to delete an email more than seeing the word 'remix' in the subject header, I have never really seen the point. But sometimes there is the odd exception to this rule as I fucking love the new remix that the FOUND boys have done for Woodenbox's Everyone Has a Price. You can download it for yourself and marvel in it's glory over on SoundCloud.

  Everyone Has a Price (Found remix) by Woodenbox band

Happy Particles
If you haven't already checked out Happy Particles debut album 'Under Sleeping Waves', then I would urge you to get that rectified asap, either that or you are already fully aware of just how fucking good the album is. Then either way you should check out the very first demo of the song Rhodia, that band recorded as back in 2009 when they were just a duo, as it's free to download on Bandcamp. You can catch the band playing their first live gig of 2012 next Saturday at the 13th Note, with support from North American War & Olympic Swimmers.



FatCat Demo Compilation
When the label that gave us the Twilight Sad, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Frightened Rabbit and now PAWS, post up a compilation of the best demos that they received recently you can't help but be interested to see what little gems they've unearthed. Find out for yourself what's been exciting them recently by downloading the compilation for free here

  Sisterland - New Jersey (Red House Painters) by FatCat Records Demo .

130701
Seeing as we're on a bit of a FatCat trip, you should check out their imprint label, 130701, as they've got a free sampler download up for grabs. Featuring tracks from Max Richter, Dustin O'Halloran, Hauschka and Jóhann Jóhannsson, the compilation can be downloaded in exchange for your email address.

Brazil Exists
Stirling pop-rock outfit, Brazil Exists have posted up a few free downloads on their SoundCloud page. Some of the tracks were recorded with Frightened Rabbit’s Andy Monaghan last year, you can find them here. The band will also be supporting the Frabbit boys on their Highlands & Islands tour of Scotland next month.

  Boxcar by Brazil Exists


Greyhound Out Of Mainline
What the world needs now is some incredibly miserable lo-fi shoegaze recorded in someones bedroom and thanks to Greyhound Out Of Mainline that hole has now been filled. He's just released his album, 'Quirky', on limited edition CD-R and as a free download on Bandcamp. If you're looking for something a bit downbeat to take you into the wee hours of the night then you might want to check this out.




Drunk Mule
And so we come to the end of this weeks Freebies, to round it all off we have the kings of Friday Freebies, a free download from those prolific Drunk Mule boys and their new track Forget The Crowds which can be found on their Bandcamp page.

Scots Way-Hay #50 - Silent Forest

photo by John Need

How can you not love a band who's lead singer is called Squirrel?! Even after the traumatic events of last year when one of the pesky fuckers came down our chimney, got stuck and pissed and crapped everywhere I still can't not like the wee buggers. That might purely be down to my Kid Canaveral T-Shirt that has a giant squirrel on the front. Aye, so squirrels, they're alright with me. This really wasn't how this introduction was supposed to start, but it's getting late and my mind has gone slightly west. I was planning on making a big deal about hitting the half century of Scots Way-Hay posts, but that would just sound like I was blowing my own trumpet and us Scots aren't very comfortable doing that.

Anyway, Silent Forest, who be they then? Well kiddie winks, they're a six piece folk-pop outfit who reside in sunny Glasgow and from the sound of things these kids have the potential to move on to much bigger things, I know it's considered a bit of a dirty word nowadays, but there is certain touch of Final Straw, Snow Patrol about them. No bad thing in my eyes and ears.

Would you care to introduce yourself?

Hello I’m Squirrel (Graeme Macdonald) from This Silent Forest, the founder and singer/ songwriter / guitarist (I say this but I’m the worst musician in the band).

How would you describe the music you make?

The music we make is like a pot of soup, ingredients just kicking about in the fridge but taste great when left in a pot for hours and boiled. Jamie (Lead Guitar) and I write most of the tracks acoustically on our own then he adds swells and dynamic lead guitar. Kev adds the bottom end (Bass) which drives its own counter melody, then the girls add the strings and keys. Iain does more than it seems by drumming off rhythms and time changes, which confuse me.

Our songs always start and end in two different places; I feel very strongly that a good song must sound great be it played on an acoustic or stripped to just vocals & strings or as a full band. So we try to make each track progress through those points. Songs either start huge or small, then the dynamic shifts and by the time it’s reached the outro of the song its become massive again and more and more has been added.

How did you come together as a band?

The band started as just me, attempting to be a singer songwriter in Glasgow and realising that I was significantly miles behind the rest. So I enlisted my sister Lesley (Violin) to add some more vocals and strings, then originally Buddy Goldie (Jousting with Dracula) on lead, Stuart Caldo (Pareto) on bass and Iain Stuart (every band in Scotland).

The line up changed with Jamie Sturt replacing Buddy then Kevin Smith replacing Caldo and Iona Bain (Cello) joining. From there everything seemed to click. Jamie and I’s voices work well together and his guitar playing just fitted how I imagined the tracks to sound.

How did you start out making music?

I started making music the old Emo way. I would write books and books of lyrics in coffee shops when I was at university and then started a band in Perth. From there all I wanted to do was sing things I had wrote.

What process goes into the way you write songs?

I have always felt that you need to really know why you sing a song and why those words and why those chords are there. If its one line of lyric or two chords then bloody well mean it! And that’s what we do (with more than two chords and more lyrics of course). Usually Jamie or I write the tracks alone, on an acoustic. Then finish the song and give it to the rest of the band who say “this is nice or this is shit” and 3 hours later (more or less) they give you something back that you are insanely happy with and significantly better (and different) than what you would have achieved on your own.

Who are your big musical influences?

I cant speak for the whole band but Lesley and I grew up listening to two things; 1) Dad Rock so a diet of Queen and other more acquired tasted such as Runrig and Classical music. Great Melodies (lyrically and instrumental) and great lyrics. 2) I then spent my teens listening to Bowie, The Cure and embarrassingly enough Trance music.

The rest of the band will not agree at all. Iain would pick something significantly heavier and Jamie would curse my name for saying anything above. But neither of them are writing this.

What kind of influence do you feel that where you come from has had on the music you create?

Being Scottish is a significant influence. None of us are from Glasgow. Traditional Scottish music and attitudes flows from our songs. Like most of our “dreech” lyrics and often celtic riffs. But even the swells and drones of Jamie’s guitar echo bag pipes often.

What can people expect to see/hear from your live shows?

People can expect to see a show. They can expect to see 6 people on stage who actually want to be up there. Who when they are playing a chord or singing a line mean it with every fibre of their being.

They will hear music which creeps up on them, builds around them and by the time they are four minutes into a song the dynamic will have changed so much they will have forgotten where it began. Hopefully after watching us play they will not only be trying to work out which was the best bit but they will be left with something more than a standard gig. We give a lot on stage.

Has there been a particular gig that has stood out for you so far (good or bad)?

I think our gig with an orchestra in the Old Fruit Market stands out for me. It was the first gig with Jamie and is where we met Iona. Also it was the first time we actually sat down and thought how we wanted these songs to sound. What 16 other instruments would be doing and where the music should go. Should the chords remain the same, what about a key or timing change? Should you take your listener on a journey? The end result was us being able to actually write and hear our songs as we wished them to sound.

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

Well first of all we have our first single Falter Discover being released on the 7th March 2011. Beyond that we are hoping to have a busy festival season in Scotland and beyond, release our second single The Fight. Finish our first EP and hopefully have the album written by near the end of summer.

Silent Forest released their debut single 'Falter Discover' out now through Never Make Friends Records, it is available on both CD and download. The single was produced by Chris Gordon of Union of Knives and Baby Chaos fame, I should really tell my sister about that one as she had the biggest crush on Chris when we're younger, ah those were the days..

The release of “Falter Discover” will be supporting the charity Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, with 10p for each unit being donated. More information on Nordoff Robbins is available at www.tartanclef.org or www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk.

The band have also made their live EP available to download for free, featuring tracks recorded live at the Brewhouse and the Mill (RIP), you can find that here.

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