Friday Freebies

The Son(s)
What with all the talk about Peenko Records, you might be wondering what was happening with Olive Grove as we've been pretty quiet as of late. Well folks, the reason things have been quiet as of late is mainly down to the fact that we've been waiting on a couple of bands just finishing off albums and the like. Hey it will be worth the wait I promise, as will the new EP by The Son(s) that I have been teasing you about for what feels like ages now. The EP is called Leviathan and it's not due out until the 7th of May, however, as a wee teaser we've made the track 'If I Hear You Talk Apostrophes Again...' free to download on SoundCloud, which should hopefully whet your appetite for now. Oh and the EP will be coming out on limited edition cassette... I fucking love tapes...

Song, by Toad Records Sampler
Jealousy is a terrible thing, I hate being jealous of folk, but seeing as Matthew who runs by Song, by Toad has fucked off to SXSW I can openly confess to being jealous of what he's created with his blog and label. Fuck it's not like he'll ever read this anyway. Not only does he run pretty much the biggest blog in Scotland, but he also runs one of the coolest fucking labels. Cunt. Being the big fucking show off that he is, he's just posted up a free Song, by Toad Records Sampler on Bandcamp which features free tracks from amongst others, Meursault, King Post Kitsch and Dolfinz.

Frightened Rabbit
Much to our benefit Scott from Frightened Rabbit got rather inebriated over the weekend and his merry state he decided to tweet links to some demos of tracks that he had kicking about. I'm a big fan of happy drunks (usually being one myself), so if you want to help yourself to a whole load of free tunes then just click on the following links: Scottish Winds, Fuck This Place, Scott and and Grant in soundcheck, Scott and the piano, The Work' without Archie, Scott singing with James Yorkston on guitar, and last but not least this little bit of nonsense.

Sonny Carntyne
I had fully intended to include this link in last weeks Freebies, but somehow it got overlooked. Fuck knows why as this Dundee based alt-folk outfit are quite lovely. They've just released their debut EP Unicorns & Ghosts on Wise Blood Industries and you can download the EP for free here. Fans of Elliot Smith and Sparklehorse take should check this out, actually fuck that, you should all check this out as it's fucking ace.

Frances and Her Trampoline
I can barely keep up with the releases from this CATH RECORDS,last week they were giving away free tunes from Lasso The Moon and now they've just posted up some free downloads from Frances and Her Trampoline, which I think is a previous incarnation of band featuring members of the band that became PAWS, I am sure Jim 'Ayetunes' will correct me if I've gotten that wrong.

Tesla Birds
Steven from Happy Particles is a bit of a busy boy, not only was he was partly responsible for the greatest album to have ever been released on Christmas Day, he's also been busy working away under his solo project, Tesla Birds. Fans of chilled out ambient tunes should do themselves a favour and download his new tune 'flocks in RGB' for nowt from Bandcamp.

Hipster Death Squad ‏ 
The best named band in the world are back and once again the tunes are ace, they've made their new EP The Bedroom Tapes (Part 1) available for nowt on Bandcamp, I urge you to check these guys out. 

The Last September
Edinburgh outfit, The Last September have reworked their song, Tough Love which featured on their last album As The Crow Flies and have retitled it as 'This City', being the kind souls that they are, they're giving it away for nowt on Bandcamp.

Desert Sharks
Fans of Sleater-Kinney and The Donnas might well want to check out Desert Sharks, a 4-piece, all female rock/garage/punk band who are based in NYC. They've just posted up a few demos for free download on their Bandcamp which are well worth checking out.

Hiva Oa
Edinburgh three piece Hiva Oa have just released their new EP on Mini50Records, if you like you're music to be stripped back and haunting then this might just be for you. Their EP is available on Bandcamp on a pay what you want basis.

Marthas & Arthurs 
Former Fresh Meat starlets, Marthas & Arthurs are going to be releasing their debut album, "The Hit World Of... Marthas & Arthurs" next month, and as a wee teaser they're offering a free download of their cover of the Stone Roses 'Shoot You Down', which features on the album.

Fresh Meat Monday - The Last September

Would you care to introduce yourself?

We're called The Last September and are based in Edinburgh. We're currently reformed following a seven year gap from our debut album Vagrant Song. We were only together for a few years in the first place, so we like to think of ourselves as some sort of special flower which only blooms every few years!

How would you describe the music you make?

It's basically Indie music. But I think that term is so sprawling and varied it's just really a handy starting point for us from the point of view of classification and also how we feel about ourselves. We bring our own little ideas and influences which can end up sounding a little folky, or Americana-esque. It all boils down to the songs really however. You can dress up a good song in whichever clothes you like.

How did you start out making music?

Personally, I was in bands at school an ended up having a go at the full-time band thing with a group called Suburbia when I left school instead of going to uni. I grew up in the Borders and there wasn't much happening musically. If you didn't play rugby you were a bit odd! I think that made me feel even more determined to do it. It was the stereotypical five guys together taking on the world situation within which, I was the guitarist. When that band broke up I felt a strong urge to write my own songs and to me, that meant singing them also. From here The Last September began.

What process goes into the way you write songs?

It varies from song to song really. I like to keep a little list of different ways to begin songs. So many people get bogged down in one way of writing (myself included - one of the reasons for our seven year absence). It can be sitting with an acoustic guitar, but I also like to set myself little challenges like starting with a sample for inspiration or perhaps just thinking of an exciting rhythm. If I think I've done too much of one method then I'll change and try a different way of getting that initial idea. It's an exciting way to work. An idea can come from anywhere, no matter how absurd it seems at the time.

What can people expect from your live shows?

I think people enjoy the songs first and foremost. They're not exactly out and out pop songs, but I think there's some lovely hooks which people become attached to. As a band however, I feel that we're getting more and more exciting with every gig. I think there's a warmth and an honestly to our sound whether it's from the delicate glockenspiel parts to me getting carried away with the high notes!

What are you all listening to at the moment?

I can't stop listening to July Flame by Laura Veirs. I love that there's a really authentic production around her beautiful songs. I can't remember off hand, but I could believe it was recorded somewhere traditional and dusty like Nashville or something like that. I fall back on perennial favourites like Lambchop and David Bowie regularly too. Oh, and only recently got into Exile on Main St by the Stones. Wish I'd heard that earlier.

What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2011?

We have the album "As The Crow Flies" out in September (purely coincidence!), which we're launching in the Wee Red bar on Saturday 10th. I think we may release another single from the album towards the end of the year also. Other than that, I think we're just focussed on playing as much as we can both as a full band and acoustically which we enjoy doing from time to time.




Home
Bandcamp
Facebook
Twitter

Friday Freebies

King Tut's Summer Nights 2011
"Bu-ut oh, those su-ummer nights....", once again Glasgow's legendary King Tuts Wah Wah Hut are going to be running their Summer Nights gigs this July, which basically sees some of the best (and some god awful pish) bands in Scotland playing at Tuts over a period of 2 weeks. You can download a free sampler of some of the bands that are playing using the following link.

The Last September
Edinburgh band The Last September have just released their new single, Precious Time, which they've made free to download on their homepage. A catchy wee number it is too, they describe themselves as sounding reminiscent of early REM with a touch of sixties California, which is pretty spot on I reckon.

English Bore
The some time Fence-associate, English Bore has posted up new track 'coda one' on a pay what you want basis, although he did say that it was cool for folk to download it for free, so if you can grab it for free if you like. Stream then download it here.

Cities and Skylines
This freebie came courtesy of my blogger friend Chris who runs the excellent Favourite Son blog, he very kindly pointed me in the direction of a free download from Cities and Skylines. If you give them your email address they'll very kindly let you grab their song 'We All Were Young Men Once'.

Silverbacks
On Wednesday Song By Toad posted a wee article all about a new band that have been particularly exciting me, that band would be Silverbanks, and reluctantly I guess I have to agree that he's right. Fans of lo-fi pop are going to lap this stuff up, all you need to do if you want to see if you agree is to head over to their Bandcamp then you'll find yourself a free download of their self titled EP.

Forget Moscow
I do like to try and credit any freebie finds, however, I can't for the life of me remember how I came across this find. Forget Moscow are a Dundee based band that flirt with ambient and post rock sounds, if that sound like your cup of tea then you can download their song 'Open Folds and Open Hands' for free on Soundcloud.

FOUND
I still miss my weekly FOUND freebie, it was always my starting place when it came to writing these posts. Then again I guess the freebies did lead up their stunning album Factorycraft, so I can't really complain. If you haven't already picked yourself up a copy it certainly comes with the Peenko seal of approval, although I am not sure whether that's going to actually encourage or put you off! Anyway enough of ramblings on with the free stuff cause that's what you're hear for isn't it?! The good folk at S-Type have done a wee instrumental remix of FOUND's Anti Climb Paint which you can find here.

WATERS
I only found out recently that Port O'Brien had called it a day, I guess that really shouldn't have been much of a surprise as they had pretty much disappeared off the radar. Thankfully though he band’s lead singer, Van Pierszalowski has a new project on the offeing. They're called WATERS (I do like this new trend of bands 'shouting' their names) and they have a new single, “For The One” up for free download here.

King Post Kitsch
A very addition to this weeks freebies comes courtesy of Peenko favourite and man of the moment King Post Kitsch. Not only is he releasing his awesome debut album in just over a week on Song By Toad Records, but he has also Marc Riley as a massive fan. As a wee prelude to the albums release you can download the song Walking On Eggshells for nowt here.