Weekly Round Up (23/05/10)

Monday - the excellent Night Noise Team brought some fresh meat to the butchers table
Tuesday - Rod Jones and his naked band the Birthday Suit were in session for Vic Galloway. Whilst we had a double helping of Frabbit thanks to our American buddy Ryan 'Cut Here', fucking love that guy.
Wednesday - I am becoming a bit of a fanboy when it comes to the French Wives, so I was chuffed to bits to have them enter the hall of the fame that is Scots Way-Hay
Thursday - I only heard Aerial Up for the first time a few weeks back on the Podcart, bloody magic they are too. They did a cracking wee session for the Vicmeister
Friday - an absolute shed loads of freebies came your way, there were some seriously amazing tunes up for grabs this week.



News, gigs and any other gubbins......

Details of this years Word up Kelburn Garden Party got announced this week, very exciting it looks too. To make things a bit more special this year, they have decided to relocate the main stage and it will be at all new and have are-vamped Viewpoint, complete with decor, lights, seating, visuals and all manner of funky bits. There is also going to be a dance tent in the Tall Trees, put on by Electrikal, plus somewhere in the woods, Ten Tracks are curating the Acoustic Cafe. The line up is still being put together, but so far they announced that the following acts will appear; Broken Records, Meursault, Hidden Orchestra (formerly Joe Acheson Quartet), Alex Cornish, The Staggerats, Captain Slackship's The Mezzanine Allstars, The Ordinary Allstars, Lypsinc For A Lullaby, Stanley Odd, Freaky Family, Raise Your Hem, John Langhan Band, The House of La, and The Set Up. Details on how to get tickets and the like can be found here.


PinUp Nights is back on Friday, fuck knows how they'll manage to top last month Bloggers Delight Night (check the pictures). Well they're certainly giving it a good go, here's the important info.....

Guest Djs: Thomas Hein (These New Puritans), Rosie Cunningham (Ipso Facto), Hahaha (Vendor Defender) And Halleluwah Hits (Glasgow's New Record Shop/Label) Playing Live: Gold Future Joy Machine (London), Nevada Base, Un Cadavre, Miss The Occupier Plus - The Pin Up Djs Playing Their Inimitable Mix Of New And Classic Indie, Punk, Soul And Electropop Across Two Rooms And All The Usual Pin Ups Hilarity And Mayhem You've Come To Expect! £5 Advance Tickets From Tickets Scotland And www.Pinup-Nights.co.uk Fanzine & Badge For 1st 100!

The line up for the T-Break at theis years 'T in the Park' also got announced this week, in case you missed it here's the line line-up in full: Be Like Pablo, French Wives, Fridge Magnets, Kitty The Lion, Kobe Onyame, Lightguides, Make Sparks, Mitchell Museum, Mopp, Night Noise Team, Stanley Odd, The Draymin, Three Blind Wolves, The Ray Summers, The Seventeenth Century and Washington Irving. There's some corkers in there, and some stuff that we'll just skip over. Who says that the decision making is all corrupt, not me, no sir ;)

Also, the campaign to save The Pop Cop hasn't died, the fight it is still on going, head on over to what we hope is a temporary home to fine out more. Any support you can offer would be appreciated, as this just makes me sad.

In case you missed it, the Kays Lavelle album, 'Be Gentle This Still Morning' got released this week. I really like think it's a cracking wee record, well worth the seven quid it's on sale for.


***EDIT***

This arrived late in my inbox and I thought it deserved to be squeezed in , next weekend TBC (Together Beat Cancer) Presents: Dusk Till Dawn. A two part music event designed to raise both funds and awareness for Maggies Centres. The legend that is Jim Gellatly is your host for the evening. With the following acts lined up: ‘Dusk’, Friday - Radio Magnetic Soundsystem DJ’s, Loki and Konchis, Louise McVey and The Cracks in the Concrete and Admiral Fallow. ‘Dawn’, Saturday- Heather Downie, Aaron Wright and the Aprils, Alan McKim and Findlay Napier. Further details can be found here.

Scots Way-Hay #14 - The Kays Lavelle

Photo by Luke Joyce

Week fourteen and it's time for Edinburgh six piece, The Kays Lavelle. For once I am not really sure where to start, having known lead singer Euan initially as a fellow blogger. I was always a wee bit apprehensive as to what I might make of his music, thankfully I needn't have worried as the 'Kays debut album, 'Be Still This Gentle Morning', is an absolute corker of a record. They make atmospheric sounds that could break the hearts of us delicate indie kids. It's the kind of music you want to listen to in the wee hours of the morning when you're feeling that bit emotional. I really hope that this record gets the attention that it deserves, as this band deserve your attention, don't let them pass you by.


How would you describe the music you make?
With difficulty. I always find it hard to put across how we sound without using comparisons - and I hate comparisons. I read a review recently which described us as "midnight music" and I really liked that. Let's go with that.

How did you start out making music?
Well I've always played music. I started piano and guitar lessons when I was really young. I kept the piano lessons going until about age 15 but I got bored of the guitar pretty quickly. The band only really happened once I started buying cds at school and getting deeper into exploring alternative music. Graeme was a school friend but we only started playing songs together after University finished. It's been a long process to get to the point we're at now. Our music has always gone unnoticed so even to be answering questions for you is a very strange experience. The Kays, have been together 6 years all in. This group of 6 though for about a year now. It's working well at the moment.

What process goes into the way you write songs?
I tend to write on my own then take all my ideas to the band, where we shape things together (same applies for Graeme's songs). For the most part I'll have a structure in my head but I cannot and will not take credit for how the other instruments sound or how the songs develop once we work on them as a band. Everyone contributes their own ideas and hopefully what we end up with is a group thing. I think for the next record this will be more relevant as it will be the first batch of new songs that the 6 of us have properly worked on from scratch. I cannot wait to get started.

Who are your big musical influences?
It's hard to answer that question as I love so much music. I'd say my favourite artists are Wilco, Sparklehorse, Tom Waits, Elliott Smith, Neil Young, The National and Radiohead. However, the music that influences the music I write is more neo-classical in origin. People like Olafur Arnalds, Danny Norbury, Library Tapes, Nest, Nils Frahm and more. I like to find little piano motifs and work from there til I find a song or a song finds me.

You released your first two singles through Wise Blood Industries, is your album coming out through them as well?
Yes, the album will be coming out on Wiseblood as well. Adam has been so supportive of our music and kind enough to give us a home from which to release our music. I never really felt that The Kays fitted in Edinburgh. To be honest, I wasn't sure where we fitted. I think, in a way, Wiseblood is a label that kind of caters for the misfits and raggy dolls of Scottish music. We're lucky to have Adam's support.

As you chose to give both of these singles away as free downloads, do you feel that this was necessary in order to get more exposure for the band?
It has helped I think. People are always happy to download free stuff right? The idea was Adam's to be honest. A nice taster for people and a way to help build buzz about the record. I wouldn't say it was necessary, but it was certainly sensible.

On a similar note, your album leaked before the release date, now that you’ve had some time to reflect upon this how do you feel?
The only thing that upset me about the leak was the betrayal of trust before we wanted it to be released. I was fully aware that it would happen once the record was released. I guess I just couldn't understand why somebody thought they had the right to put it out there before we wanted it out there. I was annoyed because so many people have supported us over the past 2 years whilst the album was being recorded/produced and they have yet to hear the record. I wish they'd heard it first. That said, I've not lost sleep over any of this. I want our music to be heard and the people who are real 'fans' will buy the record anyway, of that I'm sure.

You are now being managed by Daydream Management (Halina and Iona from the Glasgow Podcart), how did that come about?
Well I'd become friends with the Glasgow Podcart guys as they had been supportive of Trampoline and other ventures of mine. I'd sent Halina a track called 'December' (which is now a solo EP track) and she loved it. Once things started to kick off I asked her if she'd be up for managing us. She said yes, and here we are. Halina and Iona bust a gut for us and we appreciate every single second of their time and effort. Graeme and I had been running everything for 6 years, so to have two people so passionate about the music and so focused on getting it out there is a massive weight off our shoulders.

As an outsider to the perceived Edinburgh scene, it does seem like a very supportive collective that has started to emerge. Does it feel like you have to start building a new fan base up from scratch now that you’re out of your Edinburgh ‘comfort zone?
Yes, Edinburgh is a great place to be a musician these days and everyone looks out for everyone else, which is lovely. However, I've never felt like The Kays fit with the perceived "scene" in Edinburgh so I don't feel like we're stepping out of our comfort zone at all. The world's a big place and we want our music to get out there and be heard. Being based in Edinburgh is magic, but there's a bigger picture we have our eyes on.

What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2010?
Kays wise in 2010 you'll have the album on 17th May 2010. We're then embarking on a UK tour in Ocotber and will probably just try to play as many shows as possible to help promote the record.

I myself will be releasing a solo EP called 'Memorials' through Too Many Fireworks later this year and I also have 2 other musical projects on the go as well. One is with Heidi Kuisma from We Sink Ships - it's a music/photography piece and the other with Chantal Acda of Sleepingdog. These records may be out this year, but it may be next year before they see the light of day.

The Kays should start work on new songs later this year as well. So there's loads on the go.

The Kays Lavelle - Thinking Of Strangers (MP3)

The Kays Lavelle's debut album, 'Be Still This Gentle Morning' is out on 17th May, through Wiseblood Industries . In celebration of its imminent release, the band are playing 2 album launch night shows. The first is in Glasgow on Friday May 7th, in Stereo, then the following night (Saturday 8th) they pare playing at the Wee Red Bar in Edinburgh. Tickets are only a fiver, plus there is the added bonus of cake being on offer.

Buy Glasgow tickets
Buy Edinburgh tickets

Wiseblood Industries

Myspace
TheSteinbergPrinciple

Friday Freebies

The Kays Lavelle
The second single ‘Ten Times’ from the Kays forthcoming debut album ‘Be Still This Gentle Morning’ is available for free digital download through the good folk over at Wiseblood Industries.

Blur
I guess that most of you will already be aware of this, but in case it passed you by Blur's new song 'Fools Day' that was released as part of Record Store Day has been made available for free download in exchange for your email address.

Kid Carpet
If you've never heard of KC then now's the time to get yourself acquainted, I first came across him in one of the wee tents at Belladrum a few years back. Seeing a grown man play toy instruments and making some of the most fun dance music known to man was my highlight of the weekend. My second biggest highlight was stumbling across him playing the same tent a few hours later, due to the fact that some of the bands had been forced to pull out. The man is a legend on his pink toy guitar. Anyway, enough shite about me, he has put a new collection of songs entitled 'The Advert Break' up for free download, here.

Bob Hillary and the Massive Mellow
If you are heading up north to this years Insider Festival then you might have spotted this lot on the bill. If you fancy hearing what they sound like, then you'd be advised to subscribe to their mailing list, as they'll send you a free MP3 of their song 'It's All Good'. Ain't that kind of them.

HEALTH
City Slang have posted a free download of the LA band's song 'USA Boys', just right click save and hey presto you've got yourself some new tunes for nowt.

Caribou
Also up on City Slang is Odessa (David Wrenchs Drumapella) by Caribou, once again, right click save. Easy peasy.

Pulled Apart by Horses
Give Transgressive Records your email address and they'll give you 4 free tracks from their 'Live at Leeds', 12" which came out as part of the Record Store Day celebrations.

65daysofstatic
The Sheffield post-rock band have a couple of free downloads up for grabs, 'Tiger Girl' is up on the NME's site and 'Crash Tactics' is free over on Indie Shuffle.

Unkle
I'll admit that I have only really heard one tune from Unkle, that one with Ian Brown, yes I know shame on me, etc, blah blah. Apprently they have a new album out, I think it's supposed to be a bit pants, but then I'll never know. If you would like to get an idea of what it's like then you download yourself a couple fo free tracks here.

.Scores
The Glasgow indie pop-rockers ahve free download of their song 'intro' up on lastfm for free.

Elliot Smith
A couple of tracks by the late Elliote Smith are up on RCRD LBL for free,'Last Call' from his Roman Candle album and 'Twilight', from the From Basement On A Hill album.

Stolen Recordings
The indie label has put a free sampler up for download on their Bandcamp, it features tracks from Pete & the Pirates, My Sad Captains and TAP TAP.

Pixies
Give them your email address and they'll let you download a free MP3 and video of 'La La Love You'.

Mystery Jets
Their third album is due out soon, to promote it's release they're giving away a free download a new track called 'Flash a Hungry Smile', just click here.

The Dandy Warhols
Mind these guys, they were on advert, everyone LOVED them. Then everyone forgot, I liked that song they sang about heroine, or somehting like that. Do I care what they're doing nowadays, not really no. Some of you lot might though, so here you go it's a free download of 'Little Drummer Boy'. Is it just me or are there far too many freebies out there these days....

Ólafur Arnalds
Icelandic fella, has a new album, it's not about volcanoes, actually I have no idea wtf his songs are about. He does have a free download up of one of a new song up for grabs, taken from the album ''Þú Ert Sólin', which translates as 'pure minging by the way'...or perhaps not, is up for grabs here.

Iron & Wine
yep that folky guy with the huge beard, aye him, he's got a free song up fro grabs over RCRD LBL. It's called 'The Trapeze Swinger' and it's rather nice, download it here.

The Mountain Parade
Another last minute edition from Ian 'too pretty to blog' Bawjaws from Have Fun At Dinner, as I just got this I can't tell you much. Apparently they're a folk pop band from Oxford, we'll just have to trust my little dragon loving acorn. You can download their EP 'Living Room Songs' for free on their Bandcamp.

Stornoway
Although Kowalskiy keeps banging on about this lot I must admit that I haven't given them much of a listen. Saw them on Jools Holland once, they didn't impress me much, might need to get them another chance. There is a free download of their song 'On The Rocks' up for grabs here. Talking of Kowalskiy it's time for his we Korner (please note the KKK idea was mine, he's not a big racist or so he says.....)


Kowalskiy's Komplimentary Korner

The Northwestern
From the ashes of one of one of my favourite bands, Hope Of The States comes The Northwestern. There are two free downloads of their songs "Rot and Gin" and "The Number" available here, all that they ask for is an email address in return.

Go Go Bordello
Personally I don't know too much about these guys, I liked that Start Wearing Purple song, that was class. David, sorry Kowalskiy swears by them, hence the reason why he's given us two freebies this week. What a wee star he is! Anyway, if you head over to Rolling Stone, then you can download new track Pala Tute.

Friday Freebies

we're only afraid of NYC
This week we have not one but two Scottish bands that I have been really enjoying, first up is the wonderfully named 'we're only afraid of NYC'. They gave their debut EP away for free a couple of months ago, it was good, and now they're doing the same with their second EP. In my opinion this is better, much better in fact. It's not just me that rates them, the lovely Lauren Laverne has been playing them on her 6Music show last week. The EP is available to download now on their Bandcamp page, if you like what you hear then check back next Wednesday as they're my next 'Scots Way-Hay' victims.

The Kays Lavelle
My other (joint) favourite release this week is the new single from the Kays Lavelle, 'The Hours', which is available to download for free from Wise Blood Industries. This song just simply sounds amazing (I was going to go with lush, but then I sound realised Gavin & Stacey's not cool anymore. Right? Fuck it I liked the first series). After hearing this I really can't wait to the hear the full album which is due out on the 17th of May, get it marked in you diary kids, it promises to be something pretty special.

el hombre trajeado
El Hombre Trajeado were a Glasgow band that emerged toward the end of 1996, they were very much at the forefront of DIY music from this fair city. In total they released three LPs, and one EP, all of which are available to download for free on their homepage, which you can find here.

Glissando
Kudos goes out to Euan from the Steinberg Principle blog (he's also in The Kays Lavelle, talented bugger that he is) for this little find. It's a live recording of the London shoegaze bands 2008 show at the Union Chapel in London, which is of course up for free download on their Bandcamp.

The Pipettes
Remember them? Surprised they're still going? Yeah me too, but hey fair play to them for sticking at it. I am pretty sure that one of the girls has left the band, but then again I have done hee-haw research on the matter. If you fancy seeing what they sound like these days (not very different to be honest), then you might be interested to know that they're giving away a free download of their single 'Our Love Was Saved By Spacemen'. You should know the drill by now, give them your email address and you get the song, piece of piss.

The Silent Forest
The folky-pop Glasweigans have a few tracks up for free download, just head here
and use the password 'brewhouse' and hey presto you've got yourself some free tunes. If you like what you head and fancy catching the Silent Forest live, then you're in luck as they're playing a free gig at the Mill next thursday (26th). To get tickets all you have to do to get a ticket is either text MILL14K to 82500 or go to the Mills site and register for tickets.

Have Fun At Dinner
If you haven't come across 'Have Fun At Dinner', a relatively new blog then I'd suggest you get that rectifiied. If my my word isn't good enough for you, then you might be swayed by the compilation 'A Glass of Scotch Volume 1' that he's just posted which 'demonstrate the caliber of up and coming bands in Scotland'. It includes tracks from Meursault, Eagleowl, The Last Battle, plus many others. Cracking stuff and before I forget, it's free, but then again I guess you saw that one coming.

The Magic Numbers
The worlds happiest band are giving away new song 'Hurt So Good' which will be on their forthcoming album, it's another one of those give your email address in exchange for the song. If that sounds like a fair deal to you, head here.

Maxwell Panther
The lo-fi Mackem experimentalists new album has just come out on Song By Toad Records, if you want a listen to what he sounds like before making an investment then you can check out his album 'All Ages and Body Types' which is free on his Bandcamp page.

Shooting Stansfield
Ian from Have Fun At Dinner posted about these guys earlier in the week, mighty fine they are too. If you sign up to their mailing list they'll give you a free download of their song 'Modern Warfare'.

Lawrence Arabia
6Music have been playing his song ' Apple Pie Bed' a fair bit this week, cracking tune it is too. You can download it for free on Bella Unions website, go on treat yourself.

THERE WILL BE NO FRIDAY FREEBIES NEXT WEEK AS I AM OFF ON HOLIDAY, SORRY FOLKS. HOWEVER, JIM SAID HE'D DO ONE ON AYETUNES SO HEAD ON OVER TO HIS PLACE NEXT FRIDAY.

We Have Lift Off

Launch nights, are they really like buses, na not really but alas we have two which have come up pretty quickly after one another. January is notoriously a pretty shitty month for gigs, everyone's skint and there's generally not much going on apart from Celtic Connections. This year might well buck this trend as there are not one but two cracking wee gigs lined up in the first couple of weeks of January. First up is the launch night for We Sink Ships Radio, at the 13th Note this Friday (08/01/10), which boasts a line up of the second hand marching band, Benni Hemm Hemm, Euan McMeeken (The Kays Lavelle) and beneath us, the waves (DJing). A cracking wee line up if I do say so myself, it's only four quid so it shouldn't break the camels back in that long wait until payday.
We Sink Ships is an interesting collaboration between Heidi Kuisma, a Finnish, Glasgow based photographer and Neil Milton, a Scottish photographer, musician and record label owner who now lives in Warsaw in Poland. Together they create and curate online photo exhibitions and now present a show on Radio Magnetic called (unsurprisingly) We Sink Ships Radio, you can download a sampler of the Podcast here. Well worth checking out if you like your Scottish music.

The following Friday (14/01/10) after that we have Ten Tracks in Stereo, a new monthly gig night in Stereo, Glasgow. Which boasts a line up of Super Adventure Club, Tokamak, Fear the Fives. Quite a nice wee line up they have going on there, cash might be even tighter by then, so you can't really complain at £1 entry fee. Personally I'd be there in a shot, except I'l; be away n Bremen for a mates stag, anyone been there? Anything worth visiting?
Anyway, I digress, if you haven't heard of Ten Tracks before it's well worth checking out, it's a monthly Scottish-based music download service (run by the Skinny I think) where you can download ten quality songs for the bargain sum of one measly pound. It's a great wee idea as it allows you to discover great music for not a lot, while also making sure that the musicians get something back. For a more logical explanation as to what it's all about head on over to their website, Ten Tracks. Further details on the night at Stereo are available on their Facebook page.