We've Got It Covered #103

Morning folks, it's Saturday and once again I'm hungover. No surprise there then I guess, I spent last night in the company of some fine individuals at King Tut's catching The Grand Gestures and Behold The Old Bear, A top night was had, but boy am I paying for it today. If I think that I feel bad now, god only knows how sorry I will be feeling for myself on Friday. As next week I will be heading up to Inverness for my third goNorth,  Scotland's biggest music industry event/piss up. For the second year running, myself, Song, By Toad and The Pop Cop are putting on a showcase gig at the event. So if you're going to be Inverness on Thursday it would be great to see some of your pretty little faces. Anyway, here's a selection of cover versions from the some of the bands that I am looking forward to seeing in Inverness next week...

French Wives-Blue Boy (Orange Juice cover)

Chris Devotion & The Expectations-I Aint Got No Home (Woody Guthrie cover)

Where We Lay Our Heads - New Dawn (Withered Hand cover)

Washington Irving - Boy From School (Hot Chip cover)

The Machine Room - Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order cover)

The Machine Room - Small Town Boy (Bronski Beat Cover)

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.

Video-rama!!

What with  Mothers Day and the cup final earlier in the day I have almost managed to spend  a whole day without logging into blogger, but alas I just can't resist the temptation of going online. So I have decided that today is as good a day as any to post up some videos that I have been enjoying this week...

First off we have a dems new single Inner O, which is released on 2nd April 2012 on Bad Life Recordings...

Next up we have a the new single from Fife outfit, Ambulances, their double A side single Feeling Sick is out now on Bandcamp and they've made this rather nifty video to accompany it.

Where We Lay Our Heads new single, "Bury You", comes out tomorrow, to celebrate they're playing a headline show at the Captain's Rest on Wednesday night with support from Letters and Cafe Disco.

New Scottish DIY label, Comets & Cartwheels have announced something a bit a special to celebrate the the release of their first release with Quickbeam. Choosing to do something a bit different to the norm, the single launch is going to be held on a ship, yes a ship. The Tall Ship in Glasgow to be exact, support on the evening comes from their label mates Endor plus there will also be an acoustic set from Washington Irving. Further details on the gig can be found here. To get yourself in the mood check out the excellent new video for the single, Seven Hundred Birds below...

Lastly, rather than post up yet another music video I just wanted to point you in the direction of a new project that the State Broadcasters are involved in. For their forthcoming single, Trespassers, they've managed to rope in the award winning director, Jessica Ashman, but they need your help. All you need to know can be found here, or you can just watch the video below...

Trespassers - Indie Go Go Video Plea from Jessica Ashman on Vimeo.

We've Got It Covered #75

A lack of sleep and a morning of CBeebies has left my brain totally fried, so if I ramble a bit more than normal today please take that as my excuse. Why my daughter Erin has decided that 6am is a good time to get up and 'play' is a mystery to me, hopefully she'll grow out of it as mum and dad certainly aren't morning people. Last night mainly consisted of going to a seminar on applying for funding from Creative Scotland, drinking wine and watching the Nirvana night on BBC4. All in all it was a pretty good night, although now I feel a little bit less optimistic about the chances of success any future applications for any of our Olive Groves bands. Still it's not going to put us off trying!
Which in a roundabout way allows me to mention a couple of things that some of our bands are up to over the next few days. Tomorrow night, The Moth & The Mirror are going to be hitting up the BBC to record a live session for Ally McCrae's Introducing in Scotland show, with yours truly tagging along as one of their hangers-on for the evening. Having spent the past 2-3 years ripping streams of their sessions, this feels a bit like going into the lions den, i.e. I fear having my knuckles rapped!
Then on Monday night, Randolph's Leap are going to be supporting The Shivers at Mono, alongside Where We Lay Our Heads at a gig being put on by yours truly. In case you missed it last weekend, here's a wee link to an Introducing feature that I did with The Shivers. I say this every time, but it really would be great to see some of you coming along for the evening. In the unlikely event that you need a bit more convincing, just check out the cover versions below from The Shivers (the first time I have featured a non-Scottish band in this feature) and Where We Lay Our Heads, who recorded this song especially for this blog. Right that's enough rambling for one day, you can all go back about your business now...

The Shivers-I See A Darkness (Bonnie Prince Billy cover)

Where We Lay Our Heads - New Dawn (Withered Hand cover)

Back In The Game.... A News Roundup

I had fully intended to post up a news post ages ago, but alas things got a wee bit on top of me so this feel by the wayside. On Thursday coming it will be the blogs third birthday, bloody hell, time really does fly in. On the blogs birthday I celebrated by giving away free badges, then in year two I put out the one and only release on Peenko Records (I Build Collapsible Mountains debut album - funnily enough he releases his debut album this week). So what does year three bring then, well boy and girls it's that moment you've not been waiting for, this week we will hopefully be launching the first ever Peenko Podcast. Having hosted a few shows on Edinburgh student radio station, Fresh Air, I got the presenting/rambling pish, so I have managed to rope in my friend Charlie, aka King Post Kitsch, to record a show with me this week. Don't say I didn't warn you, anyway that's enough about me and my plans for world domination, on with the news...


It's been a while since I put on a gig on my own, so November felt like as good a time as any to test the wasters again. This time round I've roped in old favourites Randolph's Leap to support The Shivers a New York based duo who have recently just signed up to Fence. This is the first time that the two-piece will have played in Glasgow so I am pretty stoked to be able to be putting on their first show in my fair city. If you haven't heard of them before then I would thoroughly recommend that you check out their latest album, 'More' it's one the most addictive albums I have heard this year. Completing the bill I have Glasgow outfit Where We Lay Our Heads, a band that I have been a big fan of for ages now. I kept missing their live dates, so I thought that this was the best chance for me to see them live. I am still sorting out ticket details and the like, I'll tell you more a bit closer to the date.

The Shivers - Used To Be by peenko

Talking of other gigs that we have on, today sees the release of The Moth & The Mirror album on our wee label Olive Grove. To celebrate we've got two dates lined up in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the band will be hitting up Stereo this Wednesday (12th), before appearing at the Cabaret Voltaire in the capital this Sunday (16th). Open Swimmer support on both dates, with Rick Redbeard also doing the honours in Glasgow and Endor will be playing an acoustic set in Edinburgh. In addition to all of this the band are also going to be playing an acoustic set at 1pm in Fopp on Union Street in Glasgow on Sunday the 16th. I should hopefully have a lot more from the band on the blog later this week, I may go a little OTT - you have been warned. Oh and you should also check out their ever so pretty new homepage. For now though you can stream the album below, then go spend your pennies if you like it...

Peenko favourites the French Wives have spent the summer busily crafting their debut album with influential producer Tony Doogan. Their forthcoming long player is due out in the new year on the Electric Honey label, and ahead of it's release they're just about to put out new single, Numbers on October 24th. To celebrate the singles release they're having a launch night for it at Mono in Glasgow on Thursday the 20th of October, with support from Blochestra and Endor. Tickets for the gig can be pre-ordered via the bands new website now, plus you can stream the new single below.

French Wives - Numbers by peenko

What with the absence of the Music Like A Vitamin gigs this year, things with the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival have been pretty quiet on the music front without, but there's still quite a lot of interesting things going on. Two of the more interesting gigs that might be of interest are Rod Jones, James Yorkstone and Withered Hand mentored some young musicians, helping them with writing and recording, culminating in a live gig at Nobles Bar, Leith, on Thursday 20th Oct. Then on Monday the 24th of October, composer Malcolm Lindsay will perform songs that he wrote with some local kids, which will be performed by a classical string quartet for the first time at Platform, Glasgow, at 12.30pm. The project which was commissioned by Alun Woodward (Chemikal Underground/Delgados) which apparently saw the kids using special music software which helps people write music using colours/shapes rather than traditional notation - sounds complicated to me!

Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings for one post, I will leave you a couple of videos, the first is of James Mackenzie playing live at Cafferys in Inverness, then we have a new video from indie popsters, Be Like Pablo...

Friday Freebies

we're only afraid of NYC
It's been a pretty good few weeks in terms of news coming out of the NYC camp, first off they've managed to recruit themselves a shit hot new drummer (the last one ran away to France) and now even more excitingly they've just posted up their top notch new single We Lived Here as a free download. Get stuck in kids, it's a great wee tune.

Poor Things
Having released their debut single 'Innocence/18' through the French Wives imprint label, Red Hat Records back in May. Perthshire three piece, Poor Things have just made their new EP 'R U Sitting Comfortably?' free to download on Bandcamp.

Laki Mera
Glaswegian electronica quartet, Laki Mera have posted up the Mogwai remix of their song 'Crater' for free on their Facebook page.

Supermarionation
Edinburgh punk powerpop three-piece Supermarionation have made their new EP 'Amongst the Northern Lochs' free to download here.

Plastic Animals
Having released the excellent A Dark Spring EP back in July, Plastic Animals are now giving away even more free tunes. To celebrate their 5th anniversary since the release of their debut EP, they've made both“The Importance Of Fuzz” and it's follow-up “Forgetting This Is Killing Me” free to download on Bandcamp.

Scottish Fiction
Fellow blogger Scottish Fiction has posted up the next in his series of free EPs, this months offering features free tracks from Shambles Miller, Collar Up, Reverieme and Where We Lay Our Heads. You can download it for nowt here.

Stormy Seas
Edinburgh indie folksters, Stormy Seas have posted up two free tracks from their forthcoming album, Of Rust and Loss (due out in November). It reminds me of a lot of stuff that's coming out of Edinburgh at the moment, with perhaps a touch of the Levellers in there too. Make your own mind up by downloading the tracks here.

monster island.
My fellow blogger Song By Toad pointed me in the direction of this freebie, so if you love it or hate it you know who to blame. Mancunian alt-pop outfit a couple of free tracks from their forthcoming album 'cathedral steps' on their Bandcamp.

Rose Parade
Ayrshire whimsical pop outfit Rose Parade have made their song 'Midnight Wine' free to download on their SoundCloud page.

Friday Freebies

Laki Mera
I have to admit that Laki Mera had until recently completely passed me by, however, have to hearing them record a number of session they've somewhat turned my head with their electronic folk-pop. If you haven't already checked them out and you want to give them a chance, you can download a remix of their song How Dare You by signing up to their mailing list here.

DJ Shadow
Californian hip-hop artist, DJ Shadow has just released his new single 'Warning Cell' which is taken from his forthcoming album 'The Less You Know The Better'. It features the elusive Tom Vek and you can download it for free by clicking 'like' on Facebook.

Lisa Hannigan
In the run up to her much-anticipated second album, ‘Passenger’ next month, Folk Radio have posted up new song 'A Sail' for free download on their website.

Ghost Pants
Not content with his duties as the drummer in Dananananaykroyd, Paul Carlin has been busy working away on his solo project Ghost Pants. Having already released a series of cracking EPs and singles which he gave away for free, now he's just posted up his first ever Ghost Pant's album 'In Ochre'. I guess it's not much of a secret that I am big fan of this lo-fi side project, so it should come as no surprise that I have been enjoying this album a lot this week (well since yesterday at least. You can download it now via Bandcamp, it's one of those pay what you want deals, so it's up to you if you want to part any cash.

Pioneers Of Anaesthetic
One thing that I am really open to is recommendations of artists that I should check out, in the past few months a couple of folk have suggested that I check out Steven Cossar aka Pioneers Of Anaesthetic. Having listened to a shed load of stuff on his SoundCloud page, I have pretty much been listening to his stuff none stop this week. You can make your own mind up whether his music is for you by downloading his 27 track album (they're very short songs) 'Freak Past​-​Tense Despatch Hatch (Ocula)' for free on his Bandcamp page.

Pearl Jam
Next week sees the release of Cameron Crowe's Pearl Jam documentary which marks the bands 20th anniversary (fuck that makes me feel very fucking old). In the run up to it's release the band have made their song 'Ole' free to download here.

Run Lucky Free
At the start of next month Edinburgh indie four piece, Run Lucky Free release their new single 'The Factory', as a wee pre-cursor of what you can expect you can download a free acoustic EP from their SoundCloud page.

Kowalskiy
Bloody hell time really does fly by, I can't fully believe that Mr Kowalskiy is now up to his 15th EP. This month he's got another cracking wee line up (no surprise there then), this time roudn he's got free tracks from Will Hanson, Adopted As Holograph, Capitals, Hold The Suspect and Trapped Mice. You can download all of these tracks for free via his Bandcamp.

Where We Lay Our Heads
It feels like ages since i have posted anything from Glagsow outfit, Where We Lay Our Heads, not that they haven't been up to much, it's just that I am a bit rubbish at keeping on top of things these days. If you're out and about tomorrow they're supporting I Am From Barcelona at the Arches in Glasgow. In anticipation of the gig they're giving away their track 'A Collapsed Lung' for free in exchange for a tweet/facebook post.

Laurence Made Me Cry
It's not very often that I pay attention to up and coming music that isn't Scottish, pretty much because I just don't have the time to anymore. However, occasionally I do pick up on bits and bobs that trickle through. This week I have been listening to a lot to Cardiff folk singer, Laurence Made Me Cry, aka Jo Whitby, her The Rain Song EP is up for free download on her Bandcamp and it's well worth checking out.

Drunk Mule
I had meant to post this up last week, but that's not to say that it's not worth checking out. I am not 100% certain where Drunk Mule are from, I somehow have the idea they're from Fife, but then again I might well be talking pish. One thing I can say for certain is that there's a whole host of stuff up for grabs on their Bandcamp, if you like good time bluesy rock, then this should be right up your street.

Fresh Meat Monday - Where We Lay Our Heads

Would you care to introduce yourself?

WS-Hi I'm Wull I pretend to sing and play guitar and i'm from Twynholm.

SM-I am Sean and I just like hanging about with musicians!

WS-We also have Kat Morland on Violin, Vicki Cole on Bass and Alistair Burton on Drums/Percussion.


How would you describe the music you make?

WS- I like to think of it initially as pop music, but i guess if someone put a gun to my head i'd probably describe it as Alt Folk Pop? Thats close enough until someone else calls it something completely different.


How did you start out making music?

WS-As in the band? It all started out with me in the studio then sent the songs around and got a few "hey do you need a.." style messages and luckily everyone who said that were not only great players but friends as well, makes for a better atmosphere.


What process goes into the way you write songs?


WS- I wont say it changes every time but i guess its kinda mixed method writing it'll generally start with either a hook, a guitar part or a little bit of lyrics that i've got on my phone or an old notepad, and I just take it from there. Certain songs take longer than others but its the end result that's important.


What can people expect from your live shows?

SM-Lots of really cool looking ties I imagine? Wull has a nice line in bow ties and I never get enough use out of my wedding suit.

WS- You can expect them to be happening in a few months


What are you all listening to at the moment?

WS-Malcolm Middleton, Frabbit, Buddy Holly, Beerjacket and Arcade Fire have been the only artists on my MP3 player for 2 years. But i've been listening to alot of Eels at home.

SM-Faith No More, Pearl Jam, Bobby Womack and Tayo (awesome D & B) Kill The Waves.


What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2010?

SM-Ties, and music I guess?

WS-Well we're in the process of writing and recording which i think is gonna turn out to be our album, but i'd expect some form of release before the end of the year is out, probably a single. Colin Keenan from Oliver Stays/Jam Hut Studios is recording/producing and is doing a great job who i couldn't recommend more, cant wait till its all done . Also once we're fully prepared you can expect a few gigs hopefully October kinda time, just keep an eye on us at your preferred choice of social networking site.


Where We Lay Our Heads - My Major Is Your Minor

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