Peenko Records Present: Randolph's Leap - As Fast As A Man

Some of you might have noticed that I haven't been posting much on the sight lately, what with everything that's been going on over at Olive Grove Records and managerial duties of Randolph's Leap, I haven't had much time to dedicate to the blog. So it might look like I have been slacking, but trust me I haven't, trying to squeeze everything in alongside a day time job, being a dad and a husband, plus having some form of a life ain't easy. All of that being said I still love running this site, so it's been a great help to have Boab, Steve and Mike take some of the slack for me. Plus it's great to have actual proper writers on the site, hopefully you'll agree that they've been a pretty good addition and have freshened the place up a bit.

If you've been frequenting this site for a while now, then you might be aware that next month will be the blog's 4th birthday. I have always tried to celebrate the event by doing something a bit different each year, for the 1st birthday I gave away free badges, for the 2nd birthday I released the first ever release on Peenko Records with I Build Collapsible Mountains and last year I started my ill-fated podcast (I'm still toying with bringing it back at some point in the future - if I can find the time that is). So the the blogs 4th birthday celebrations I have a number of things coming up over the next month or so. To start it all off here's the first exciting bit of news, as you've already guessed from the post header I am putting out another release on Peenko Records. To date I've released the aforementioned IBCM EP, plus there was Randolph's Leap and the Curse of the Haunted Headphones which I released on cassette back at the start of the year. Now I am chuffed to be able to share with you all the next release which is a mini album from Randolph's Leap called 'As Fast As A Man'. Not one to linger in the past, Adam has controversially suggested that cassette tapes might be a dying format and has jumped ship to the weird and wonderful world of the compact disc.

I am not pretty chuffed to be able to share with you what is essentially a follow-up to The Curse of the Haunted Headphones.  Adam has upgraded from a tape recorder to a laptop and bought a new microphone.  If the Curse of the Haunted Headphones was an album of bedroom recordings, Randoph’s Leap: As Fast As A Man has entered the heady domain of living room recordings.  Retaining the same lo-fi charm / shambolic laziness of the Haunted Headphones, As Fast As A Man consists of 9 tracks, featuring acoustic guitar, occasional keyboard fuzz and sumptuous violin (thanks to Heather Thikey).  The limited edition album is available now on Bandcamp. Each one is unique, hand-made and decorated with a member of the animal kingdom (sadly the monkey cover has already been sold). As wee teaser we've made the song Goodbye available as a free download, it's one of my personal favourite tracks from the album - although Weatherman is the song that I have been obsessed with for the past few months.




As if all of that wasn't exciting enough, the band have also just been signed up to Fence Records, the home to King Creosote, Kid Canaveral and the Pictish Trail. I have been bursting to tell folk about this for months now, so it's great to that it's now been properly announced. On the 26th of October they will be releasing their new EP, Hermit as part of Fence's Buff Tracks EP series. The EP contains 3 new tracks, and a remix (courtesy of the massively talented, Jonnie Common). You can pre-order yourself a copy of the EP from the Fence website, although I would suggest you sign up to the whole of the Buff Tracks series as the Pictish Trail EP is properly ace.

 To celebrate the release of the Hermit EP, myself and Fence Records are putting on a launch show at the Glad Cafe in Shawlands on the Southside of Glasgow. Support on the evening comes from an array of folk from within the Fence Collective, so it has all the makings of being a pretty special evening. Tickets for the gig are available in advance here. The venue only holds 100 folk, so if you're planning on coming along you would be advised to get a ticket in advance as we're expecting it to be pretty damn busy.

I'll let you know more about what I've got coming up over the next few days, for now you should check out As Fast As A Man and marvel at the awesome poster above. Oh and if you live in London and you're free on Friday night, then should get yourself along to the London Palladium as Randolph's Leap are supporting the Pictish Trail at his big birthday bash. This is going to be the bands first ever show outside of Scotland, so we're all a bit excited about it. I'll be at it too, but don't let that put you off!