Friday Freebies

King Creosote
King Creosote's newest, as yet unreleased, album 'My Nth Bit Of Strange In Umpteen Years' was played seven times in its entirety at the Homegame Fence bash. Attendees were encouraged to record the gig and share it around. Here's what the good man had to say about it. "My next album isn't going to be recorded at all, it's only going to be a live experience. I'm going to do seven performances of the album at Homegame in a small room that only holds about 40 people, and what I've insisted on is that the audience records it for themselves on all sorts of cheap, portable equipment (dictaphones, old Mp3 players, mobile phones, etc.) and then passes it around. The idea being that if it's true that passing files around and file-sharing helps build a live audience then this will be the proof in the pudding. But those songs won't exist outside the live performance."
Some of the live recordings are already starting to surface online, here are some of the links that I have comes across so far. Link one here, Link 2 (split into two parts), Link 3 (again split into two parts)

we were promised jetpacks
If you sign up to the Jetpacks mailing list, then you will receive a free Mp3 of 'A Far Cry' taken from their forthcoming EP. Sign up here.

Ariel Pink
Los Angeles outfit Ariel Pink are giving away new song 'Round and Round' for free download, it's one of those sign up for their mailing list type scenarios. Register here.

Skies Fell
Glasgow's Skies Fell are giving away a free download of their debut single, 'Contest/Hurricane', you can download it from their Bandcamp now. Thanks go out to Jim G for this one.

Alessi's Ark
Alessi Laurent-Marke, more commonly known as Alessi's Ark, new EP Soul Proprietor is out next month. To promote it DrownedinSound are giving away a free download of the song 'The Robot'.

Fence Collective
Clash Magazine have posted a wee zip of Fence artists for free download, there are tracks from François & The Atlas Moutains, Rozi Plain, OLO Worms and FOUND. Click here to download it.

The Holy Roman Army
Irish duo, The Holy Roman Army have posted a free 5-track covers EP on their Bandcamp page for free download. It sees them taking on the Pixies’ ‘Wave of Mutilation‘, Rollerskate Skinny’s ‘Speed To My Side’, Bon Iver’s ‘Skinny Love’, Peter Broderick’s ‘Not At Home’ and Pavement’s ‘Here'.

Sara Lowes
If you listen to Marc Riley during the week on 6Music then you are more than likely to have come across the lovely Miss Sara Lowes. If you liked what you heard, then you might be interested to know that there a free download of her song 'Something I Don't Know' is up for grabs. It's one of those sign up the mailing list deals, sign your life away here.

Run/Lucky/Free
The Edinburgh indie-pop four piece are giving away a free download of their new song 'Unicorn' here. If you like what you hear then you might be interested to know that they are playing at Edinburgh's Haddowfest at the end of the month.

The Gothenburg Address
They featured in this weeks 'Scots Way-Hay' and here they are again, this time it's a bootleg entitled, 'Shimmer In The City', of them performing at Nice n Sleazys in Glasgow.

SXSW
One day I'll make it out to Austin, one day! Until that day I'll have to content myself with live recordings and free samplers. NPR have a tasty wee sampler up for download at the moment, featuring Spoon, Broken Bells, The Walkmen, Local Natives and Freelance Whales. Get yourself a copy here. (redeemable only on the U.S. iTunes Store)

theapplesofenergy
Ambient experimentalist, Stephen Gribbin 'Gribb' has put a few tracks up for free download on his Soundcloud page. Get downloading kids

High Places
Brooklyn duo Roy Barber and Mary Pearson, who make up High Places, have a free remix of 'Can't Feel Nothing' up for grabs up on DiS.

Frightened Rabbit
Any stragglers out there that haven't invested in 'The Winter of Mixed Drinks' might be pleased to learn that a free download of the single 'Swim Until You Can't See Land' is up for free download on KEXP's website.


Kowalskiy's Komplimentary Korner

Lonely Tourist
For all of you who are still mourning at the demise of Odeon Beatclub, you might be interested to know that their former lead singer Paul has a new outfit on the go, "Lonely Tourist".
If you send an email to lonelytouristmusic@yahoo.co.uk he'll mail you back 3 MP3s for nowt!
This freebie comes courtesy of the lovely Kowalskiy, which makes that the third week running that he's pulled a cracking freebie out the bag, hence he is now being given his own weekly slot in Friday Freebies. Keep up the good work mate!

Scots Way-Hay #7 - The Gothenburg Address

I've never really been a massive fan of post-rock bands, it's never been through a lack of trying though. I own a couple of Mogwai albums and have seen them live on numerous occasions, whilst grown men weep I usually found my mind wandering. My short attention span usually needs vocals to hold my attention. This might come as a bit of a shock to those of you who realise how passionate I am about Scottish music, some of you might even be slightly appalled. That's what I get for exposing myself as a non-hipster.
It is for this reason that I am quite surprised how taken aback I was by Edinburgh post-rockers The Gothenburg Address. I was a bit behind some of my fellow Scottish bloggers and although I had seen their name being banded about a fair bit (mainly by Jim Ayetunes and the lovely Glasgow Podcart crew), I must admit that I hadn't given them a listen. It wasn't until their name cropped up in quite a few of the entries in the inaugural Scottish BAMS Awards (they came in at a very impressive #26), that I decided to give them a proper listen. I am glad that I can rely on my contemporaries not to let me down.
Coming from Scotland it is difficult not to compare The Gothenburg Address to the aforementioned Mogwai, but that's not all that's going with this band. There are also elements of early 90's grunge bands such as the Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana in there too. Their eponymous debut album is an absolute cracker, it's even made me reconsider giving Mogwai another go........

Would you care to introduce yourself?

yes indeed. hello. I am Luke Gareth Joyce, and my band is The Gothenburg Address from Edinburger.

How would you describe the music you make?

We are an instrumental band. After being in bands that relied on vocals, i decided i wanted to put together a band where we could push ourselves to the limits of musical story telling. I think my favorite descripton of our sound so far is from the Skinny who said we 'are a storm on a mountain and a cliff-top in the rain'. i like that :)

How did you come together as a band?

It was a template tale of myself looking for musicians to play my songs that i had been writing over the previous year. I met Rob through an Ad, he in turn was in a band with Jeansy and they were both looking for something new. Chris, who was a former bandmate of Jeansy when they played with Arab Strap & The Zephyrs, heard the tunes and immediately came onboard. 6 weeks later we played our first show in Glasgow.


What process goes into the way you write songs?

I had what could be termed as a musical breakdown a few years ago and completely turned my back on it. After a lengthly time out i started recording demos in my flat. These are the songs we're playing now. The others bring their own style to the songs and take the music to a whole new level.

Mike Garson (Smashing Pumpkins / David Bowie) played on your debut album, how did that come about?

I have a friend called Alex Boyd who is a photographic artist from the west coast. He has known Mike for some time and handed one of our songs over to him. With in a couple of days of recieving the track Mike had taken his engineers into a studio in LA and recorded the part. Being a die hard Pumpkins fan its something of a dream come true.

Lastly, what can we expect to see/hear from you in 2010?

2010 is going to be busy. We are in the final processes of booking some Euro shows, then theres the 2nd album which i hope will be hitting the shelves by the end of the year. i would like to put out some singles aswell so theres a constant stream of fresh material for our listeners. Gig goers will notice a substancial game raise in our live shows as we introduce some visuals that are being made up as we speak, and possibly a few other unexpected 'new arrivals'.

The Gothenburg Address - Its Not A Fjord But A Lake
(as recorded for Vic Galloway MP3)

The Gothenburg Address - Its Not A Fjord But A Lake
(album version, stream only)




If you fancy catching The Gothenburg Address playing live, then head along to the Mill in Edinburgh, this Thursday (18th) where they are playing the Elements. As it's at the Mill it's free, all you need to do to get a ticket head over to the Mill's site and register for a couple of tickets.

Myspace

The Gothenburg Address - Vic Galloway Session (20/01/10)

Track Listing
1. A Letter Coming Home
2. It’s Not A Fjord, It’s A Lake
3. Shimmer
4. Horizon Take Me Under

Download