The Unwinding Hours - Afterlives: Track By Track

Two years on from their self titled debut, The Unwinding Hours are back with their follow up album 'Afterlives'.. Having listened back to the album a fair wee bit over the past few weeks, it is a real grower. In fact I'd go as far as saying that they've surpassed the high standard that their debut set. If you're looking for something a bit more descriptive then should check out Steve's review of the album. Or you could always just keep reading as Craig B from the band talks you through Afterlives...


Break 

I’ve never been bothered by the term “post rock” but it seems to be a common tag with any music we make. I realise that the first song from our previous album, “Knut” could certainly fit into that category since it was a slow building, repetitive number with barely any singing but this time we decided to start the album off with something completely different. We wanted it to be a huge boot in the genitals, a blast of melody, a traditionally structured song with a verse and a chorus. It wasn’t an attempt to distance ourselves from any post rock tag because….well, we have always written traditionally structured songs along with the weirder structured ones but Break was our attempt to grab the listener’s attention right away making it clear we were trying to do something different.  



I’ve Loved You For So Long

The Flaming Lips “the soft bulletin” was in the back of our mind when we were mixing this song. The bass is meant to have that big warm, fuzzy feel to it to compliment the driving guitars. I guess you can hear the influence of all the 90’s guitar bands that I was obsessed with growing up. We also wanted to have less intimate, fragile songs on this album so that we didn’t repeat ourselves. This song hopefully keeps up the pace and keeps the listener interested so they don’t drift off, go eat a yoghurt, forget we ever existed and get distracted by a plastic bag floating by the front window or something.  


The Right To Know  

So hopefully by this point, the listener is still with us so we felt we needed to keep things interesting and change it up a bit. There is only one guitar on this song and Iain made it sound like a synth during the mix anyway so the idea was to introduce a new sound/feel/atmosphere (?) to the proceedings. It was certainly influenced by Iain’s obsession with collecting synths over the past few years but Aereogramme/Unwinding Hours always had an electronic element to certain songs so this just felt like a natural progression for us from the programmed synth parts that we have always used. Very much like “Child” from the previous album, the Terminator 2 theme was at the back of our minds while writing this. That’s what you get from growing up in the 80’s and watching violent films. It’s such a great tune.  

Saimaa 

Saimaa is a lake in eastern Finland and is maybe the most beautiful landscape I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing and experiencing. I was living in the southside of Glasgow at that point and had neighbours from hell making my home life pretty miserable so to find myself on the shores of a peaceful lake, far away from civilisation was exactly what I needed and my heart still swells when I think about the sound of the water quietly lapping at my feet, not seeing another human being for miles and the sky slowly turning red, reflecting on the surface of the still water. But when  you have to leave, to go home to the neighbour blasting “sex on fire” on repeat while they have passed out drunk or the screaming couple fighting in the hall …well, that initial feeling of wonder is unfortunately mixed with a feeling of dread of what you have to return to and the thought that you might never see that wonderful place ever again. That’s what Saimaa is about and it was an attempt to try and capture both those feelings. 


The Promised Land

I have studied Theology for years and I find it endlessly fascinating. It really is a conversation killer at parties though. Still, it’s always at the back of my mind and The Promised Land reflects that. It might possibly be my favourite song on the album but more for personal reasons. It feels like a song I have been trying to write for years. I had the biblical story of Abraham and the near sacrifice of his son, Isaac, at the back of my mind when writing this although it’s not just about that. It’s a simple arrangement that builds and evolves into something that hopefully feels more ethereal and hypnotic by the end.  


Wayward 

This was the first song we wrote after the first album was completed. I remember wanting to emulate one of my favourite Wedding Present songs which is called “What have a said now” which has a wonderful repetitive pattern at the end that I used to air drum to in my room to when I was wee. (Everyone else was out getting drunk and having questionable first time sexual experiences. I was sitting in my room listening to John Peel and air drumming on my imaginary drum kit. Yes indeed. I was that cool.) Anyway, the long and short of it is that Wayward doesn’t really sound like that wedding present song but the initial inspiration was to write something as fast, driving and as fun to play, and with real instruments too. 

Say My Name

How long does it take before you think of Destiny’s Child when you read that song title? Well anyway….I can’t remember a single thing about how this was written but I know the feeling I was trying to express. A good relationship can give sustenance to your life and you can begin to miss it, feeling pale and empty when you have spent too much time apart. I don’t believe in having a soul but the right person can give you inner strength and give you the energy you were missing. You can easily adapt this to how I feel about sausages as well but that’s not as romantic. And no-one wants to hear a song about that…..I think.  


The Dogs  

Remember that awful flat I mentioned earlier with the horrible neighbours? This is the song about living there. We wanted to make it as sparse as possible though, really intimate, so you got that close feeling while listening to it, as if you managed to find a moment of peace but it could be broken at any moment. Iain took about two takes to play the piano part and managed to make the song so much better.  


Skin on Skin 

My default time signature for writing songs seems to be in three/four but that’s a waltz which makes it difficult for people to dance around at our concerts. I‘ve seen it happen. They want to get into it but then they try to jump around but quickly and inevitably feel awkward so they stop and stand with arms folded, nodding along, hoping no-one saw them. So one of our goals was to try and write more songs in four/four so we could have more songs to choose from for the live set. This song started with the most basic drum pattern I could possible write to make damn sure I wouldn’t deviate from that. The initial influence was “wandering star” by Portishead which is a song I’ve always loved but that song is much darker. Skin on Skin was an attempt to express the power of connecting with someone, a closeness that you only achieve after a longer period of time, so needed to be more relaxed and lighter.  


Day By Day 

Many of my friends or even family members are at the age now where they are having kids. I often think of them growing up and the experiences they will have. I realise western life is so much easier than the life most of the rest of the world has to live through but when you grow up, you are only reacting to what you know and experience around you. I’ve suffered from depression in the past and it felt sometimes that it was completely out with my control and something I genuinely struggled to contain. This song is about what I might have wanted to hear years ago, when I was younger, angry and confused but it’s also something I thought might be helpful for someone else to hear that could be going through similar feelings at this present time. It’s simple and to the point and I knew it might make some people roll their eyes but that’s ok. It’s not meant for them.  

Afterlives is released out now through Chemikal Underground Records. You can catch the Unwinding Hours playing live at The Tunnels in Aberdeen on 31/08/12, then the following night they're going playing a home town show at Stereo in Glasgow.

The Unwinding Hours - Afterlives

Album Review: The Unwinding Hours - Afterlives (Chemikal Underground)

I must admit to feeling a little bit nervous with this post. It is, after all, my debut appearance for Peenko and with it this brings some pressure. Albeit pressure I am probably manufacturing from nothing, but still. Anyway, The Unwinding Hours second album Afterlives is the first record under my Sauron-like gaze (only I'm a bit nicer than him I think). Now, I had heard the name, but none of these guys output so was a little unsure of what to expect. 

Initially, I was thinking that the album was quite poppy in it's execution. Very uplifting pop, I must say, as opener 'Break' comes at you all guns blazing, with a big sound. There's a good bass edge on the verses and vocally it's really enjoyable. 'I've Loved You For So Long' was similar, but with a touch more guitar coming through and for some reason it reminded me a little of The Wannadies 'Dying For More' which I really like (there goes 75% of the blog readership). Not an overwhelming reminder, but more a subtle reminder. 

The third track was where the hooks started taking hold. 'The Right To Know' has a steadier pace and out of the opening three tracks it felt the least poppy to me. Vocally it is once again very strong, but a little more understated than the previous songs. It burns away slowly, with a burst of life a few minutes in, before it simmers once more. 'Saimaa' further deconstructs the poppier sound of the early tracks. A mournful sounding piano sounds from a distance, while a repeating pattern of notes reverberates. It's an interesting contrast. Above it all is a slow, heartfelt vocal. It's really nicely out together and a little unconventional when measured with the other tracks thus far. 'The Promised Land' changes things up again. A long, sombre note opens the song and resonates for a few seconds before shifting subtly. Crisp drums kick in and the vocal is more hopeful, which is at odds with the note resonating low down in the mix. Further sparkle is added when the guitar comes in, chasing the sombre note further away. That note is never entirely banished on this anthemic track, which ends in a splash of texture and colour. An early standout for  me. 

The second half of the album kicks off with 'Wayward'. Again, some great drums and a pleasantly jangling guitar kick things off. The tempo is good and a nice bassline further compliment the track. The tempo really is good. You feel that the track is constantly pushing forwards thanks to the rhythm section before the song ends as it began - in the crashing of big drums. 'Say My Name' brings things back down a little in terms of tempo. The drums go from driving to solemn on this track, but the introduction of the guitar gives the song a fuller sound. It maybe feels a little long, but I suspect that's more to do with the contrast between this song and the previous track, which flew along at a fair tilt. With that in mind, 'The Dogs' feels just right. A more minimal sound, it feels like it should follow 'Say My Name' as the contrast isn't as startling. There's a simple guitar and piano and the vocal sounds fantastic. With minimal accompaniment the vocal really flourishes and breathes life into this great song. 

'Skin On Skin' changes things up again. Slowed down industrial beats might be a good description of the opening few bars. There's certainly a meaty feel to the opening notes. There's a really nice guitar line about a minute in that acts as counterpoint to the beat. It's good a nice, steady pace and there are some electronic flourishes here and there to add more texture. 'Day By Day' closes things out, kicking off with some sonorous notes that wash over you before some beautiful strings come in to add some depth. The emotional impact is already felt before the vocal comes in, but that serves to tug a little tighter on those heart strings. The strings pitch and yaw, all the while washing over you like a warm wave. It's a really wonderful song to close the album. 

Overall I really enjoyed this. I wasn't fully on board after the first couple of songs but the middle section of the album is really strong. There's a few different things being tried here and that keeps the record interesting throughout. It really shone for me on the slower songs like 'Day By Day' and 'Say My Name', where the vocal really stood out but the more up tempo songs like 'The Promised Land' and 'Wayward' were really good too. Suffice to say that this will stay in my rotation for a little while yet.

Afterlives is released on 20th August through Chemikal Underground Records, you can pre-order a copy now through the Chemikal Store.  

You can catch the band playing live at The Tunnels in Aberdeen on 31/08/12, then the following night they're going playing a home town show at Stereo in Glasgow.

Friday Freebies

Randolph's Leap
First thing tomorrow morning I'll be hauling myself out of bed an ungodly hour to head up to my first T in the Park for five years. The last time I went, I came back engaged - I've always been classy. This time round I'll be on my best behaviour as I am acting as tour manager (ie driving the van) for Randolph's Leap, as they will be opening the T Break Stage at 12pm on the Saturday. If you're going to be be there for the gates opening, make sure you pop your head in - even if you're not a fan (how could you not be?!), it will be an ideal place to shelter from the rain. As a wee taster to encourage folk to come and see them play, the band have released a free download of a new unreleased song called 'Man, I Feel Rough'. Which I think is pretty damn ace, but then again I am just a little bit biased. You can make your own mind up by streaming the song below.



Chris Devotion and The Expectations
Another cracking band that will be appearing on this years T Break stage, are Chris Devotion and The Expectations. Having had the pleasure of putting them on at our Bloggers showcase gig at goNorth, I can vouch for how good they are live. Sadly I won't get to witness their set as they're playing on the Sunday and I'll long gone by then, if you are going to still be up then get yourself along at 13.40 for a tight ass rock 'n roll show. In the event that you need a wee bit of persuading, you should check out their song, 'The Girl Is Leaving', which they've made available as a free download. If you're not going to T, you can also catch them at Belladrum and the Wickerman Festival!



Chemikal Underground
Scotland's coolest and most influential label, Chemikal Underground, are currently giving away a free compilation featuring an array of talent, including, The Phantom Band, Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat, RM Hubbert and a whole host of other goodies. You can download the compilation for free from Amazon



Scottish Fiction
My fellow blogger,  Scottish Fiction, is back with another one of his series of free EP's. This month he's got managed to gather in a whole host of  up and coming talent. If you want to get your grubby little mitts on free tracks from The Seven Deadly Sins, Mad Nurse, Make Sparks and Aaron Wright, then just head on over to his Bandcamp page.





Snow Patrol
I know, I know, if I had any street cred then I wouldn't be posting anything up by Snow Patrol, but fuck it, I don't care if you don't like them, as I do. So deal with it. If you do like Mr Lightbody & Co, then you might be interested to learn that they've made a new version of Lifening (Burst To Life Mix) available as a free download on their homepage.



PET
Okay so it's not quite free, it's one of those pay you want type deals, but you can opt to pay nowt if you like. It's the return of Edinburgh outfit, PET, who have just released their fourth single, 'Together Apart', which you can download from Bandcamp. 





We Are The Physics
Monday there saw the return of Gasgow's finest 'mutant science punks', We Are The Physics. They've come back with a bit of a bang, with their new single, 'GORAN IVANISEVIC' taken from their forthcoming album 'Album Details Not Ready Yet'. Did I mention it's free, I didn't need to, did I?!




Tilly & The Wall
It has been that long since I last heard anything from Tilly & The Wall, that I presumed they'd chucked it ages ago. Apparently I was wrong, as they have new album called Heavy Mood in the offing,  as a wee taster they've made the first single from it,  'Love Riot' available as a free download through Stereogum. By the sound of things I htink they have ditched he whole tap dancers as percussionists thing. I may well be wrong, and often am.

Drunk Mule
To finish off this weeks freebies, it's our old pals Drunk Mule, once again they've recorded a new tune which they're giving away as a free download. This one's called 'Fancy Pants' and it's free to download from their Bandcamp page.

Human Don't Be Angry - Vic Galloway Session (23/04/12)

Track Listing

1. H.D.B.A. Theme

2. The Missing Plutonium

3. 1985

Download

Human Don't Be Angry - Human Don't Be Angry: Track by track

Regular visitors of the blog should know all too well that I have tended to avoid writing reviews, firstly because I don't think I am all that great at them and secondly because I'm a bit lazy. It's for that reason that I like these Track By Track features, as I get tell you all about an album that I have been really enjoying, whilst leaving the musicians to do all of the hard work (I'm not as daft as I look!).
Which in a round about way brings me to the latest release from the Chemikal Underground stable, Malcolm Middleton's new pseudonym, Human Don't Be Angry. Taking a step away from his previous self deprecating
past, Malcolm's new venture sees him surprisingly veering towards almost sounding upbeat. With song titles such as 'Getting Better (At Feeling Like Shit)' and 'Jaded', Malcolm jokingly plays homage to his perceived miserableness. There are songs on the album that sound like they could be from the coolest 80's film that never was, he recently described HDBA as being 'a facade, a front so I can have fun again musically'. In allowing himself the freedom to go off and explore new ideas, he's come up with one of the finest albums that you are likely to hear all year. Anyway, that's enough of my inane ramblings, I'll pass you over to Malcky to tell you a bit more about the album...

The Missing Plutonium

Probably my favourite song, it started out (like most here) as just two guitar lines, but the drums, percussion and casios give it a really light and fresh feel. It reminds me of the old arcade game Outrun. There was a leisure centre near my High School so a lot of wasted time was spent there, and I guess I soaked up all the noise and lights. I like making instrumental music where you don’t have to worry about leaving room for a voice. You can spend hours making something and going into detail, and then when you sing over the top of it all the tiny details disappear. The title comes from the bit in Back To The Future where the Iranian terrorists are racing around a car park in a camper van trying to find the said “missing plutonium”. This song is also the first single from the album, released on the 2^nd April.

H.D.B.A. Theme

This was always going to be a theme-song of some kind, the chorus hook is crying out for it. Another simple song that’s been bolstered by layers, not much else to it. The robot vocals were a last minute addition that seemed to give it a sense of identity. All the electronic drums were done by Paul Savage playing drum machines with his fingers. I think I spent a lot of time in the studio shouting “make the snare more 80’s!” or something daft like that. “Mensch argere Dich nicht” is the German name for the Frustration boardgame, which roughly translates as Human Don’t Be Angry.

First Person Singular, Present Tense

Drums again by Paul. We always have this weird thing going on where we have different opinions about the timing of a song, or how long a bar is or where the phrase starts. We’ve learnt over the years it’s better not to discuss it too much otherwise it breaks. This is a good example of that. I’d been doing this song live for about a year and it was originally half the length, but it needed to be extended and made more confusing vocally because of the subject matter, which is a bit of a head-fuck when you start getting into it. I’m not sure if this will make sense to people or whither they’ll just think it’s repetitive, random nonsense. So as a thankyou for listening to the first half you get more 80’s drums at the end and a blazing guitar solo! The title comes from the Douglas Harding book “On Having No Head”.

After The Pleasuredome

Yes, obviously a reference to one of my favourite albums of all time by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Just a nice wee “mood” piece, again not much too it. I often wondered what "the lads" got up to after "relaxing" in "the Pleasuredome", so I guess this is my interpretation of that. 

Monologue: River

This was the first HDBA song I wrote. Back in the summer of 2010 Johnny from Fence Records asked me to play their Away Game festival on the Isle Of Eigg. I said only if I can do it under a different name, he said yes, so I went away and thought up a name and wrote some songs and that’s how this whole thing came about. It gave me a good creative burst for a few weeks and much of the album was written then for a small gig on an island. Most of the songs were instrumental but this one and First Person seemed to have space for words. Part of me wishes I’d left the album entirely instrumental as my words tend to detract from the lightness of the overall feel, but maybe it was a good thing, I don’t know. It’s nice to have some personality on the record, even if it is too similar to my previous output lyrically. Although the words here are a bit more random I suppose. I haven’t rowed down any river recently…. The “ohs” at the end are blatantly ripping off Iron Maiden, and the main guitar hook is a wee bit of an homage to Jackson C. Frank. I was initially worried about Aidan’s drums on the end section because it reminded me of the tribal dance scene from The Matrix part 2. I believe my final say on the matter was “ah, fuck it”.

Jaded

A good example of a slow, tender piece of guitar music ripped apart with indifference by Paul Savage’s latent urban beat tendencies. It makes perfect sense though. Aidan Moffat did the live drums here too. And I am very Jaded, so this song is autobiographical.

1985

What a year! The summer was hot, we had Live Aid, great music, I was heavily in love with Madonna and about to start High School, where my childhood would be destroyed and Reality would make its first unwanted appearance on the stage that is "my life". Eh, what? Anyway. I love this song. Arab Strap v’s The Bee Gees.

Asklipiio

Aww… a song about proposing to my wife while on holiday in Rhodes. Yuck. Enrique Iglesias meets Mogwai via Manchester. I’m not sure what that means.

Getting Better (At Feeling Like Shit)

Well I had to ruin it didn’t I? There goes my positive new direction and trying not to have the word “shit” anywhere near my music. Stewart at Chemikal Underground swears that if he’d seen the artwork before it was completed he would’ve forced me to change the song title to just “Getting Better”, and thereby avoid any lazy tags being associated with the album. Ach well. 


  "H.D.B.A. Theme" by Human Don't Be Angry by Chemikal Underground


Human Don't Be Angry is out now on Chemikal Underground Records, on download and CD. Also, if you're quick off the mark you might till be able to pick up a copy of the album on vinyl from your local record store, as it was released on Saturday as part of the Record Store Day celebrations.

You can catch Malcolm playing live on Saturday the 16th of June at King Tut's in Glasgow with support from Martin John Henry.

Friday Freebies

PET
In mentioning so many bands on here, I am never too sure if I make it known the stuff that I really really like. PET are one of these bands, their scuzzy debut EP, 'What you building?' has been one of my surprise finds of this year, with the release of their new single 'Middle Child Syndrome' they've cemented that status. The single's not quite a freebie, it's one of those pay what you want scenarios, but fuck I couldn't not post about it. They also have a cracking wee video to go with it which is well worth checking out.

The Low Anthem
Bloody hell The Low Anthem are a generous bunch of folk, they're giving away a free download of their debut self-released and self-produced album 'What the Crow Brings' for free in exchnage for your email address.

Kowalskiy
Another month and yet another cracking free EP from my fellow blogger, Kowalskiy. This month he's got some free tunes from an array of great Scottish bands including French Wives, Otherpeople, My Tiny Robots, Laki Mera, Wolves Of Winter, Mummy Short Arms and the band I was gushing about a minute ago, PET.

Rob St. John
It really does feel as if there's a new release every fecking week from the Song, By Toad stable. Admittedly I am not a fan of everything that the label pus out, but the stuff that I do like I tend to think is really really good, i.e. Meursault and King Post Kitsch. I guess you can now add Rob St. John to that list, his ‘Weald’ 12” LP, is out on Monday 21st November if you fancy a wee taster then you can find a free download of ‘Sargasso Sea’, the second single from the LP here.

Chemikal Undergound
If you haven't already signed up to Chemikal Undergound's mailing list, then you're really missing a trick, as every month they give away some cracking tunes in their "downloads for 'f' all" feature. Having recently revamped their website they're now giving away free tunes from new additions to their stable 'King’s Daughters & Sons' and Irish singer songwriter Adrian Crowley.

Alcopop Records
Oxford indie label, Alcopop Records have posted up a compilation featuring artists such as Johnny Foreigner, Sleet and Snow and Johnny. You can download it completely gratis from their SoundCloud page.

JJ Bull
Aberdonian singer songwriter, JJ Bull, has made his fabulously named new single, 'Pirates (of the Aberdee​-​en)' free to download on his Bandcamp page. The song is taken from his forthcoming album 'Crocothilos', if you like what you hear, he's playing at The Tunnels in Aberdeen on the 19th of November.

Julia & The Doogans
Apparently Katy Perry was in Glasgow the other week, who knew? Well me for one. To 'celebrate' her appearance in our dear green place, Julia & The Doogans have made their cover of Teenage Dreams free to download on SoundCloud.

Blank Canvas
Ambient Edinburgh Punk outfit Blank Canvas have just made their new double A-side single 'By the Fire / Golden' free to download on Bandcamp, rather ace it is too. Hey also have made this video to go with it too, check that out here.

The Cinematics
In case you didn't already know The Cinematics have called it a day, as a parting gift they've made their track Nausea free to download here.

Mark Stoermer (The Killers)
I guess the cool kids gave all gave up on The Killers ages ago, but hey some of you might be interested in this solo album from Mark Stoermer from the band. You can download it for free in exchange for your e-mail address using this link.

The Stagger Rats
Edinburgh Gypsy Death Funk-ers, The Stagger Rats have just recorded their debut album which is being produced by the legendary Owen Morris is all set to be released in Spring 2012. As a taster of what to expect they've made their song 'Fuzzy Fuzzy' free to download here.

New Hands
Canadian outfit, New Hands, who some of you might remember from previous Friday Freebies posts have just released their new single 'This I've Heard' as a free download on Bandcamp.

i dream in colour
They might not be Scottish but the new single'Long Cold Lonely Winter' from 'i dream in colour' is well worth checking out as it's a catchy wee bugger of a song. You can download it for free on their SoundCloud page.

Liebot
Last , but not least I have a wee freebie from Scottish songwriter Liebot, seeing as this only popped into my inbox last night I have only given it the one listen. On first listen it reminds me a lot of a more lo-fi De Rosa, which can only be a good thing. One things for sure is that I am going to go back for a second listen. You can download his album 'Come Home' for free on Bandcamp and that folks is your lot for this week!

Friday Freebies

Chemikal Underground
If you haven't already signed up to Chemikal Underground's mailing list, then you clearly haven't paid a blind bit of notice to anything I say. Not that I can blame you for not listening to me, but in all seriousness you really should sign up. So before you start festing on this weeks freebies go and sign up here. Just so you know what freebies you missed, this month they added some free tunes from new signing RM Hubbert and anew tune from Zoey Van Goey. You can download both songs here.

Freelance Whales
There are now two singles from the amazing Freelance Whales up for free download, their first second single, “Day Off” is available for free download here , while their first single, "Enzymes" is also up for grabs here. As if that wasn't enough, if you head over to their homepage you'll find a free download of 'Generator 2nd Floor'.

Sleeping Bag
This freebie came courtesy of a tweet from Paul Carlin, so cheers for the tip mate. I have toyed with the idea of doing a freebie of the week for a while now, but I can never quite make my mind up. This week it would be between the French Wives freebie below, and this download frm Sleeping Bag. I am not going to pretend that I had heard of Sleeping Bag before, I am not hipster enough for that anymore. All I can say for certain is that they've certainly caught my attention with this catchy lo-fi pop tune. Hopefully I have done enough to perk your interest with my ramblings, if you've come this far then you are in for a treat. Fuck it, all you need to know is that you can download their song 'Slime' for free on their Bandcamp. Awesome stuff.

El Hombre Trajeado
This previously unreleased collaboration with Mick Cooke, was recorded as part of the much missed Glaswegian post-rock outfits Saccade sessions. They thought it was too happy for their record. You can ownload it here.

30lbs of bone
On Wednesday I tipped him as one of my Ones To Watch for this year, now that Friday has come round it's time to share this recent show recorded in Leipzig, Germany available for free on Woodland Recordings (scroll to the very bottom of the page). There are also a whole load of other free recordings up for grabs on there, so tuck in.

Mike Watt
The punk legend has a free download of his new song, “Arrow-Pierced-Egg-Man” available for free download here.

Kowalskiy
His Korner may well be a distant memory, but my blogger mate Kowalskiy is continuing on with his awesome series of EP's from the best of Scottish music. In this his 7th in the series of monthly EP, he's lined Amy Duncan, eagleowl, The Colourful Band, Lonely Tourist and Lovers Turn To Monsters. Now that's quite a line up, you can download it for free on his Bandcamp.

French Wives
As I said already, this is my joint favourite freebie of this week (seeing that written down makes me sound really childish doesn't it?), I am not going to deny that I am a massive fan of the French Wives. It was this song that actually got me into the band in the first place, it's a cracking wee pop tune. It's called 'Dogfight' and you can download it for free on their Myspace as part of their series of Homefires posts.

FOUND
I've not a clue what this weeks freebie from the FOUND boys is going to be, I can however, tell you that tickets for their album launch went on sail this week. If you haven't already bought yourself one, now's the time to get your skates on as early bird tickets are only at £4. The ticket price will rise to £5 on 1 February, £6 on 14 February and will be available for £7 on the door. So get 'em while you can, also in case you were wondering the album is awesome. On with the freebie, as I said before I've no idea what it is, all I know for sure is that you'll find it on their Bandcamp

DeVotchka
I don't think I could name any songs from DeVotchka apart from the one from the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack. I am pretty sure that I would really like them as well. If I needed a starting point, a free download might be a good starting point. So now that their new song, '100 Other Lovers' is available to download on Stereogum, I might well have to do some more swatting up.

Jeniferever
'Waifs & Strays' is available to download for free here.

The Dodos
Having just announced a European tour that finishes up in Glasgow, just now would be a good time to get yourself re-acquainted with this duo (actually are they still a duo? I haven't been paying attention recently). You can download new song 'Drone 2' here in exchange for your email address.

Cold War Kids
Has anyone heard their new album yet? I am not sure if I am going to bother after the shambles that was their last album. Freebie-wise, RCRD label have posted 'Mine Is Yours (Passion Pit Remix)' download it here.

The Mountain Goats
Here's a band I have heard a lot about, but never bothered to listen to. They seem to get a lot of hipster gets knickers in a twist, if you're one of these people then you might be interested to know that you can download new song “Damn These Vampires” via Stereogum.

Waterson
Scottish electronica artist Waterson celebrates this year ’s Burns Day festivities with a specially recorded version of ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ which you can download for free on his Facebook page.

Parts & Labor
The title track from their new album is available to download for free, it's called, "Constant Future" and you get it here.

Ashley Park
Aberdonian singer-song writer has posted a whole load of material for free download on his Facebook.

Friday Freebies

FOUND
In what is inevitably going to end up being called 'FOUND's Friday Freebie', Chemikal Undergrounds latest signings are very kindly going to be giving away a free song every Friday (it's like it was they did that just for me - they didn't though), until the release of their new album in March. That's a hell of a lot of free stuff! As I am doing this in advance I don't know what the first track they're giving away is, what I do know is that you can download it here.

French Wives
I know I already mentioned this at the start of the week, but this if something's good then it's worth mentioning again. The cracking French Wives have posted up new song, 'Welcome, in the night' for you ro get your hands on it for free . Just head on over to their Myspace and you'll find details on how to get your grubby little mitts on a copy. As I already mentioned on Sunday, the band also have a couple of gigs lined up this week, tonight night they'll be at The HAC in Irvine, followed by a headlining showing tomorrow at Stereo in Glasgow.

Chemikal Underground
If you haven't already signed up to Chemikal's mailing list you clearly are a bit of a muppet, it's not as if I don't harp on about the bloody thing every month. I guess there's just no telling some folk, here's what you missed this month. A new song by The Phantom Band called 'Walls', which is taken from their forthcoming album, 'The Wants'. Plus as if that wasn't enough, they've also posted 'You're Really Quite The Catch' (feat. Lisa Lindley Jones) from their new signings FOUND. The song is taken from their 2009 download album 'Snarebrained' which the band released to fun their appearance at last years SXSW festival. Now just make me a promise that you'll get yourself signed up to that mailing list....

My Cousin I Bid You Farewell
Another band joining in with some Friday Freebie thinking are Glasgow five piece, My Cousin I Bid You Farewell, who have posted up their track 'I'm Yours', on their Bandcamp page completely gratis.

How To Swim
If you are looking for something to do tonight (1st) in Glasgow, then look no further. Local indie-pop starlets, How To Swim are celebrating the launch of their new album, 'Retina (or More Fun Than a Vat of Love)' <> with a gig at Stereo alongside The Low Miffs and Over The Wall. Should you need a little bit more convincing, then head over to their Bandcamp where you can download their track, ' High School Apocalypse' for free.

UWS Freshers Festival Mixtape
This freebie ame courtesy of my fellow blogger Favourite Son, thanks for the tip mate! It's a wee mix tape featuring tracks from loads of cracking local bands, including Aerials Up, Pacific Theatre, Make Sparks, Trapped in Kansas and Aspen Tide. Just click the link to get downloading.

Skibunny
Fancy an MP3 from this lot? Well normally all you'd have to do is give them you email address and in exchange they'd send you their track 'Ooh Ah'. Now you don't even have to do that as their mailing limit is full (really?!), so you can just click this link to download the song directly.

Bear Driver
It's been a few months since I ran a wee introducing feature with this lot, if you missed it then now you can do some well deserved catching up. The band have posted up a free download of their brand new song 'Golden Touch' on their blog, give it a whirl it's a cracking wee tune.

Alanna Takes a Solo
Fancy getting yourself on some lo-fi indie pop folk, well look no further as there's a whole albums worth of it free from Alanna Takes a Solo. Just click here to download 'Stories of my earlier years'.

Erin Mckeown

What a beautiful name..... Aye so Erin Mckeown, if you haven't come across this American singer song writer before then you are in for a bit of a treat. I caught her a good few years back at Tuts, where she made the great judgement/major faux pas (delete as you feel appropriate) of wearing a Celtic shirt on stage. No it wasn't one of those kind of gigs, she just liked to buy 'soccer tops' from the cities she was playing in. Anyway, I digress she's been churning out cracking albums for years now, so if you haven't heard her before then now is the time to do some catching up as you can download her song 'Queen of Quiet' for free here.

Smoosh
Here's one for you old-school hipsters. I featured this duo in Freebies a while back, but now they are giving a whole album away for free. You can download their new album 'Withershins' for free on their Bandcamp page.

The Cinnamons
"As the weather takes its annual turn for the worse, this definitely means Summer is well and truly over. With it brings the end of The Cinnamons - 5 Songs of Summer Project. Sometimes is now available for free download from The Cinnamons Bandcamp so please go and fill your ears".

Distiller Records
Having nicked my idea of running features on record labels*, the NME are forgiven this week as they ran a feature on the rather excellent Distiller Records. Home to rather excellent Sparrow & the Workshop, the label also has a whole host of amazing bands just waiting for your attention, some of which you can check out for yourself by downloading this free compilation.
(*I might well be talking bollocks here)

Kowalskiy's Komplimentary Korner

Unkle Bob

This weeks freebie from the doc comes from Glasgow four piece, Unkle Bob, if you head over here and give them your email address they will send you a copy of their song 'In My Head'.

Community Service #13 - The Year of Open Doors

Now for something a bit different to the 'norm', it's time to bring a little bit of culture to the blog, it's a first and probably the last time I'll feature any kind of literature on here. So why have I decided to run a feature on the The Year of Open Doors, initially it was because of the persuading powers of esteemed author Rodge Glass. Initially I was a but unsure as to why he was keen for me to do post about his latest project which brought together a collection of short stories from new Scottish writers. After meeting up with the man in person I was soon convinced, he's a very persuasive young man, so here we are. Yes it's a book and not some form of music, but there are plenty of musical links in here, there's also an audio book to go with it, featuring local luminaries including Aidan Moffat. I think it's about time that I pass you over to Rodge to give you a better incite as to what you can expect.....


Would you care to introduce yourself?

Sure. My name’s Rodge Glass – I’m mostly known as a writer, of novels, of a biography of Alasdair Gray, and of short stories. But I’m also the singer in Burnt Island. We put out a mini album, Music and Maths, on Chaffinch Records in March, and are hoping to make an album in the next year or so.

So what is The Year of Open Doors?

On one level it’s a collection of short stories by some of the best (mostly younger) writers in Scotland. It features a lot of the best performers of their work around at the moment – Aidan Moffat, Sophie Cooke, Tawona Sitholé, Alan Bissett – but also introduces brand new writers, some with very little experience but who show a lot of promise. It comes out of a tradition of performance, so it was really important for it to exist as an audiobook as well, and I’m really pleased it’s going to.

What was the inspiration behind starting the project?

I don’t know if you’ve heard about it, but apparently (ahem) there’s some kind of recession on at the moment – and everyone in the arts knows that in these grim old times, art is one of the first things to get cut, and harshly. Which makes it tough, even in a vibrant, creative place like Scotland, to get opportunities, to get that support that turns a promising young artist into an older, great one. This book comes out of an independent, cross-arts Scottish tradition which puts art before money and doesn’t wait for permission to attempt something interesting. It takes risks, and gets on with it. That’s a tradition I was inspired by, and want to be part of. Being part of Ballads of the Book, the Chemikal Underground/Roddy Woomble project a few years ago, was a really positive experience for me, and since then I’ve wanted to curate projects of my own with a similar kind of thinking.

This is a music blog, why do you think the book would be of interest to my readers?

Fair question! Well, I think that there’s a lot more crossover between art forms than a lot of people in the mainstream media realise. When I do readings of my works, there are a lot of the same folks that come to Burnt Island gigs, and I come across similar communities in both those worlds all the time. We don’t live in a vacuum where we ONLY like music or art or literature….most folks with questioning minds are drawn to the alternative in ALL these forms. Also, Scottish music has a hugely impressive history of lyricists who are really poets, storytellers who deal in music. Whether it’s James Yorkston or Rabbie Burns or Arab Strap or whoever in between, there’s a really interesting space in between music and literature that I’m interested in exploring. There’s a long tradition of this in countries all over the world. Take Leonard Cohen’s best work (he was a novelist and poet before recording his first album) or nowadays someone like Willy Vlautin (the Richmond Fontaine guy who’s published great books with Faber & Faber publishers in London) – there’s an interesting space there. It doesn’t need to be wanky or self-conscious, it is what it is. And there’s people in our book who are also musicians – most obviously there’s Aidan Moffat, who has done a spoken word album before and is moving more into the written word, but also Kevin MacNeil (his single ‘Local Man Ruins Everything’ was an NME single of the week) and Doug Johnstone, whose band Northern Alliance made three albums on Fence Records.

You seem to have brought in quite an array of people to take part in the project, ranging from household names to up and coming authors, was this a deliberate ploy on your part?

Absolutely. I’m not interested in this culture that puts certain people on a pedestal and treats them like royalty, and treats the young and inexperienced like crap. I didn’t like it when I was working in pubs and cafés and daydreaming of writing a novel, and I don’t like it now. A big part of the book is democratisation – saying, everyone, everywhere, here and now, is potentially as great as anyone else, anywhere else, since the beginning of time. That’s not arrogant, it’s hopeful. Hence all the scales on the book, and everyone’s name in the same size lettering. I see the more famous folks as a way to get listeners and readers interested in new people they haven’t heard of before. It’s basically like one of the old mix tapes or CDs you get with a magazine…

The book is being put out through Cargo Publishing, a relatively new book publisher, how did that come about? And why did you decide to go a less well know name?

I’ve been fortunate in the past, being able to publish with big independent publishers for my books. But particularly in these grim old times, it’s important to support the local, and particularly the youngest out there, who are daft enough to be ambitious, despite all the news and 24 hour media constantly telling folks what a waste of time young people are, and how there’s no hope for jobs anyway. Cargo is run by an ex-student of mine, Mark Buckland, who is 23, very smart, from Glasgow, and very determined. He has 9 interns all of similar age just starting out in publishing, who are keen to get experience, and are much more energising to work with that some of the older, more experienced, more cynical folks I’ve come across over the years. It’s pretty inspiring. And when I told Mark exactly what I wanted to do, he said YES. There’s not much more you can ask for.

You have hooked up with Chemikal Underground to release The Year of Open Doors as an audio book, who do you have lined up for that? And when might we see it?

For me, this is part of the connection with Ballads of the Book. Chemikal is a great Scottish independent, a label that has built itself up from nothing, as Cargo is doing, and is a great example to anyone in this country interested in art-before-cash, intelligent thinking. When I first moved to Glasgow in 1997 it was the label, the only label I was a fan of, and it’s still relevant today, if you look at folks like The Phantom Band, Adrian Crowley and Zoey Van Goey, as well as the many incarnations of the Chemikal originals. (My current favourite is The Unwinding Hours.) Ballads was a really good experience for Chemikal, I think, and they are interested in this space between the art forms, as we are – it’s an experiment, of course, but we wanted to see whether we could persuade people to take a chance on downloading a story for the price of a song. So we’ve got 15 of the Open Doors authors to perform their own work and are making these available exclusively on the Chemikal site. As Alan Bissett says, ‘If it’s dead in your mouth, it’s dead on the page’ – and I think that’s one of the things that marks out this generation of writers in Scotland. They’re bolder about performing their work, they’ve come up through live nights that also feature music like Discombobulate (The Arches) Goldenhour (Forest Café, Edinburgh), Words Per Minute (Creation Studios), and they’re not rocking back and forth in their garrets, waiting for cult status to come along. That makes the work more immediate, more direct, and often, more fun.

You have quite events lined up for this Edinburgh Festival, would you care to share what you have planned?

Well, we have three Open Doors events at the Festival, each featuring a different line-up of writers from the book, but I’m most excited about the final night of the festival, when we’re launching the audiobook in the Spiegeltent – we’ve got Adrian Crowley doing a special solo set, Burnt Island, Alan Bissett and Ryan Van Winkle and Doug Johnstone doing short readings from the book, and a very special guest we can’t possibly announce yet. But trust me, it’s a good un. Soon as we can release who it is, I do solemnly swear to let Peenko know first…how’s that? - Sounds like a good deal to me!

Lastly, what can we expect to see in the future? Do you have any other events planned? Are there any plans to do something like this again in the future?
There’s gonna be a whole tour through the summer and autumn, taking in Edinburgh, Dundee, festivals all over the place, Kirkintilloch (of course!) – and look out for the Platform event – that’s the fantastic new venue in Easterhouse that Alun Woodward is involved with these days. We’ll be doing something really special there on September 12th, and will be featuring some of the best of the new writers we have, Tawona Sitholé is amazing, Anneliese Mackintosh who is one of the best performers around, as well as Allan Wilson and the one and only Alan Bissett. Whether he’ll be pretending to be a tough woman from Falkirk is as-yet-unknown....



Thanks to Mark at Cargo Publishing I can share a couple of extracts from the audio book with you all. The first clip is from the legend that is Aidan Moffat, followed by extracts from Alan Bissett and hugely talented up and coming author Allan Wilson.

Aidan Moffat - The Donaldson Boy (extract)

Allan Bissett - Celebrity (extract)

Allan Wilson - The End (extract)

The Year of Open Doors is available to buy now over on Amazon and directly through Cargo Publishing. Cargo have also posted their latest podcast which is all about The Year of Open Doors, you can listen to it here.

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Stage Times For Tonights Chemikal Underground Gig

ABC1 Doors open 19:00pm

Adrian Crowley 19:30 to 19:50

Zoey Van Goey 20:00 to 20:20

The Unwinding Hours 20:35 to 21:00

Lord Cut Glass 21:15 to 21:40

Aidan Moffat / Bill Wells 21:55 to 22:20

Emma Pollock 22:35 to 23:00

The Phantom Band 23:15 to 23:45

breathe a sigh of relief...

January is nearly over, thank god!As I guess most of you are in a fairly similar boat to my good self, you've been counting down the days until pay day, whilst avoiding checking your bank balance. Or perhaps that's just me. Next weekend should prove to be a relief to most of you, finally you're going to be able actually afford to do something fun with your weekend. Thankfully next weekend sees an abundance of events taking place for you to go and sample some fine music whilst enjoying a couple of shandies (you've earned it).

First up is the Hidden Door Festival in Edinburgh, a new venture aimed at bringing together innovative artists from all disciplines to create an exciting multi-sensory snapshot and celebration of the incredible creativity in the arts, all under one roof for a whole weekend.

Basically it's a mini festival at the Roxy Art House and The Bowery, which will feature 40 artists, 30 bands, 10 poets and 10 film makers. Bands taking part include Broken Records, North Atlantic Oscillation and Panda Su. Tickets for each day are £10, with the added bonus of a free download from Ten Tracks with each ticket purchased. For more more information check out their Homepage, then buy your tickets here.

If you fancy doing your bit for charity whilst also having a fun day out then Sick Kids Sunday 2 at the GRV in Edinburgh might be more up your street. After the success of the event in May last year, the event is back again with a line up which boasts a line up including Zoey Van Goey, Martin John Henry and Meurasult. Considering it's only £8 a ticket and all proceeds go to charity this should be a must for all you Edinburgh folk (unless you're going to the Hidden Door Festival that is. Tickets are available to buy here, some may be available on the day but it might be best to get them bought now to avoid disappointment. Further details can be found on the Sick Kids Sunday Myspace.

Please not that contrary to what the poster above shows Alasdair Roberts has had to pull out, however, Broken Records have stepped in to fill the gap playing an acoustic set. Seriously can an event in Edinburgh go by with them not taking part?!


Lastly, we have Chemikal Undergrounds 15th birthday party at the ABC in Glasgow, which is the closing even for this years Celtic Connections Festival. The line up boasts the cream of the crop when it comes to Chemikal's roster, each act will play a twenty five minute set. It's worth the entry fee alone just to see the Phantom Band in action, plus it will be the first live outing of The Unwinding Hours. I'm really looking forward to it already, if you fancy it then you can find out more details/buy tickets here.