I really do love putting on gigs, but one thing I could really do without is pre-gig nerves. The fear that it will end up being me and the bands standing in a big empty room always fills with me dread. Not that I expect tonight's gig not to go well, with a line up including Mitchell Museum, Jo Schornikow (from the Shivers no less) and Scott Rudd, what could go wrong?! I appreciate that we all live pretty busy lives these days, but if you don't have any plans for tonight and you don't have an excuse for not coming, it would be great to see your pretty little faces coming along to show some support. Hey it's not every day that Mitchell Museum return for their first post-hiatus gig and it's not every day that the fabulous Ms Schornikow and Mr Rudd come to town. So do yourself a favour and get yourself down to the Captain's Rest for a night of cracking music!
I am getting a bit slack with these We've Got It Covered posts, what with being away at T in the Park last weekend I didn't have time to write one up in advance. Now I find myself spending a Saturday evening cobbling together something half way legible, before I post this weeks cover version. That's not to say that I haven't been busy today, aside from being on fatherly duties, I also spent the afternoon recording a podcast over the phone with my friend Jamie for the next episode of Net Sounds Unsigned. As much fun as it is rambling on the Internet, sometimes it can feel like I am just shouting out in the void, so having a bit of banter with Jamie was a lot of fun. Plus I do love being able to inflict my music choices on other people, once the show is up on his site I'll be sure to post up a link.
One other thing I found myself doing this afternoon was sticking up some last minute posters for the show that I am putting on this Wednesday at the Captain's Rest. Apparently it's now just called the Captain's, but that just seemed daft to me, so I am sticking with the Rest part. Anyway, in case you'd somehow forgotten, Mitchell Museum will be making a triumphant return after their wee hiatus period. This is going to be the bands first headline show in Glasgow since they went on their break back in August of last year. As if that wasn't enough I also have the fabulous Jo Schornikow from The Shivers joining us for the evening. Any of you that were at the The Shivers gig that I put on in Mono last year should already be fully aware of what an amazing live performer she is. Then if you chuck in New York based artist Scott Rudd into the mix, it makes for a massive cocktail of fun. If you are planning on coming along and you're on that there Facebook, do me favour and click that you're going on the events page that I set up, as it will really help to set my mind at ease. I know I say this every time I put on a gig, but I'll say it again - IT WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE SOME OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FACES. See now I am shouting, does that make me sound desperate. Right I think I best stop there, this Breaking Bad boxset isn't going to watch itself. Anyway, here's a wee cover that Mitchell Museum did of MIA's Paper Planes, enjoy...
What with me having far too many good gigs to mention, I have
decided that the easiest thing for me to do is to role them all into
one mega post. So if you're not likely to be heading out to a gig any
time soon, then you may want to look away now...
First off, we have a gig that I'll be putting on next month at the Captain's Rest featuring Mitchell Museum, Jo Schornikow from The Shivers and a New York singer/songwriter called Scott Rudd. Stick that in your proverbial pipe! This will be Mitchell Museum's first headline show in their home town since they emerged from their hiatus a few months ago, so I am pretty chuffed that it's myself that's getting to put the gig on. Also, for any of you who saw The Shivers when they played at Mono last year, you'll know just how great Jo Schornikow is, plus if you chuck in the amazing talents of Scott Rudd, then you really are in for a bit of treat. If that doesn't convince you to come, then just take a look at the poster for the gig, how awesome is that?!
Tickets for the gig are available now from TicketWeb it's £5 in advance or £6 on the door.
Tomorrow night, Peenko favourite Adam Stafford will be at the Captain's Rest alongside Rick Redbeard from the Phantom Band to celebrate the release of their new split 7" single which has just been released by the innovative Edinburgh label, Gerry Loves Records. If you can't make it along to the show, then you can console yourself by buying the record here.
Then on Saturday night, Edinurgh based blogger, The Tidal Wave of Indifference, is putting on another one of his showcase gigs. This time round he's roped in four really exciting up and coming acts, The Bad Books, an Edinburgh outfit who have been causing a bit of a stir in their home town. As of yet all I've heard is a bootlegged live track, which sounds nae too bad. Plus he's also got a couple of other cracking wee bands in Loch Awe, The Spook School and The New Fabian Society. The gig is in the Wee Red Bar and you can buy tickets in advance here.
Last, but certainly not least, two of my favourite bands, Kid Canaveral and Randolph's Leap are going to be at the Wee Red Bar the following Saturday (30th). This will be my first gig in the east since I was through for Kid C's Baubles gig back in December of last year, so I am pretty damn excited about this one. The Canaveral's will be showcasing material from their forthcoming album, which should hopefully see the light of day before the end of the year. Tickets for the gig are available in advance using this link.
You think I'd learn, every week when it comes to writing/rambling in these posts, I find myself thinking I really should have done this last night. The reason for this being that I am also supposed to be on daddy duties on a Saturday morning, so not only have I been up since 6am and am feeling slightly delirious, I am also supposed to be in charge of looking after my 18 month old daughter. So please excuse me if this post seems even more aimless than normal.
I've never thought of myself as being all that superstitious, however, when I think about I probably am. As on Monday there I had a great day, it was sunny, I awoke to the new Randolph's Leap EP in my inbox, I found £15 and Mitchell Museum announced that they were reforming. A pretty fucking awesome day I'm sure you'll agree. But whenever something as good as that happens I always know that I have a stinker of a day ahead of me. That day was Friday, as I awoke to fund that my car had gotten a puncture, which made me late for work, then it cost me well over £100 to get some new tyres, meaning that I couldn't afford to travel through to Edinburgh to see Adam Stafford. Pisser indeed.
I figure now though that I have had my bad luck and that things should be back on the up, today is already looking rather good as I am going to see Martin John Henry at the Captain's Rest, where he will be supported by Behold, the Old Bear (aye that band what I have been banging on about for ages). Which in a roundabout way ties in with the good day I had on Monday as they're made up of some of the members of Mitchell Museum. Who said that the Scottish wasn't anything but incestuous!
Tonights gig is also the launch for Martin's split single Span / Onlycolour, which comes out on Monday. But if you come along to show you'll be able to get your grubby mitts on a copy of the 7" single which will be available to buy on the night. Doors for tonight are at 8pm and it's only £6 on door. Hopefully I'll see you a few of your pretty little faces there, anyway, in a rambling roundabout way that brings me to this weeks cover version which of course comes from Behold, the Old Bear and their cover of the Peter Gabriel classic Solsbury Hill, enjoy...
It's been a wee while since I did a news round up, so I guess just now is as good a time as any to give you a heads up on a few wee bits and bobs in the Scottish music scene...
To kick this all off we have some good news, Mitchell Museum have ended their hiatus and have now been busy working away on new tunes.There's also been a wee bit of a line up change, with Dougie leaving the band, being replace Gavin Thomson, he of Findo Gask, grnr, Zoey Van Goey fame. The band have already started to recording demos for their 2nd album, as a wee teaser you can stream a new song called ‘Glasshouse’ over on their SoundCloud page. Nice to have you back boys, the world feels like a better place now that Mitchell Museum exist once more.
Secondly we have a wee bit more news regarding the Brew at the Bog Festival which takes place for the first time on Saturday 5 May 2012 at Bogbain Farm on the outskirts of Inverness. The big announcement is that goNORTH are going to be host the second stage at the the event which sees some of the most exciting emerging talent in Scotland relocating to the Highland capital for the weekend.
The second stage which is going to be compered by our friends at Net Sounds Unsigned, will feature an array of talent from the Highlands and Islands including KOBI, Megan Blyth, He Slept on 57, Mike Nisbet and Open Day Rotation. This is of course on top of the line up which had previously been announced which includes Three Blind Wolves, Washington Irving, Endor, The Seventeenth Century, Stanley Odd, Over The Wall, Beerjacket, Kitty The Lion and Fatherson among others.
Tickets for the day long extravaganza of new music and new beer are priced at just £45 and are available here. Limited camping is also available.
Scotland’s annual music conference and showcase event, Wide Days have just announced that the first seminars for this year’s daytime programme. Taking place on Wednesday the 11th and Thursday the12th of April, the seminars will once again be held in Edinburgh’s Teviot House, with the showcase gigs being held in various venues across the city (provided that there's any venues left by April). Having attended this last year, I only have good things to say about it, much like goNorth it's a great way for you to learn and more importantly to give you the opportunity to go and speak to people within the industry that you might not normally have the chance to speak to. That and in the evenings they put on some pretty amazing bands, last year they had Rachel Sermanni, Withered Hand and PAWS to name just a few. If you're quick off the mark then you can pick up tickets at the special early bird rate of £29 until March 12, after which they'll go up to the full price of £45. If you want further information on the event or you fancy picking up some tickets then just head here.
Talking of festivals, Doune The Rabbit Hole have announced the line up for this years event, which will take place at Duncarron Fort, near Kilsyth, on the weekend of August 24-26th. So far they've announced a whole host of local talent including The Phantom Band and Withered Hand. Weekend camping tickets are available now priced £78 if purchased before April 1st, £88 there after, day tickets are also available. For further information on the event check out their website.
I guess that most of you are already fully aware that submissions for this years T Break opened on Monday there. If you fancy applying to be one of 16 bands that are hand-picked from over a thousand entries by a panel made up of industry experts to play T in the Park, then you can do so here.
Local promoters, Pelmet Nites have just announced that they plan to thrown Glasgow's Biggest St Paddy's Day Party. On Saturday the 17th March they'll be taking over the QMU for a night of debauchery featuring am array of Scottish talent, including live performances from Aerials Up, Discopolis, Kobi Onyame, PartWindPartWolf and A Plastic Rose, plus DJ sets from Detour and MILK. Early tickets are on sale now for only £5 for non students via TicketScotland. Check out their Facebook for further details.
Wur pals, Kid Canaveral have just announced a series of dates, which includes a couple of Scottish shows. on Sunday the 15th of April they'll be playing Fence's Eye O' The Dug of the festival in St Andrews. Then on the 3rd of May they'll be through in sunny Glasgow at the CCA supporting the Pictish Trail, after which they'll be heading down south for a series of dates. I've heard a couple of new tunes which see the band retaining that distinctive Kid C vibe, whilst sounding that bit more mature. Excited?! You should be!
If you don't follow Aidan Moffat on twitter, then you're really missing a trick. If you don't believe me then check out this compilation of some of his most amusing tweets that the Pop Cop turned into a whole post. His tweets are now the thing of legend, I often find myself trawling through a whole host of his semi-inebriated reviews of what he's been watching on MTV in the middle of the night. Funny as fuck they are too. After a few too many shandies one night, Aidan mentioned how much he loved all three 80’s megahits entitled 'The Power of Love'. Upon hearing this confession, none other than the deputy editor of MOJO, a Mr Andrew Male, then posed the following innocuous question: "Has anyone ever managed a medley of all three?" Not being one to turn down a challenge, Aidan roped in his current co-hort, Bill Wells to take this challenge on. Not only did they manage to craft all three songs into one, but they were also able to squeeze in Peter Cetera's 'Glory of Love' for the sheer thrill of it, soliciting some backing vocals from, amongst others, Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake. You can have a listen to the results below, which will also be available on limited 7" vinyl just in time for Bill and Aidan's UK tour which kicks off at the end of this month.
Mini music festival promoters, A Quiet Night In have announced a couple of shows in Stereo this March. On the 20th they have Finding Albert appearing alongside It Girl, Kill The Waves, One Last Secret and Colour-Coded. Then on the 28th they're putting on the recent winners of the Best Acoustic act at this years Scottish Alternative Music Awards, Brown Bear & The Bandits, which is also their debut headline show. Alongside them there will be our very own Randolph's Leap, one of my favourite singer songwriters, Michael Cassidy, plus Fole Music and Every Genius Delivers. Tickets for both nights are only £5, you can find out more information here.
Mind I mentioned that I saw Fatherson a few weeks back supporting Frightened Rabbit, if I didn't say it on here then I must have said on Twitter. My shitty memory fails me once again, anyway, they've just released a new video featuring a boy and his adventures with a goldfish. It's pretty fucking ace and well worthy of three and a bit minutes of your time...
Last but not least, our friends over at Audio Antihero have just released a new charity compilation which features a whopping 36 tracks. The album which is entitled “Some.Alternate.Universe” is being released in order to raise money for The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths and it features exclusive tracks from the entire Audio Antihero roster, plus appearances from rather special guests including the likes of Jeffrey Lewis, and Johnny Foreigner. Plus most excitingly for me it includes a wealth of Scottish talent, including Jesus H. Foxx, PAWS, The Scottish Enlightenment and Debutant. You can buy it now from the Audio Antihero Bandcamp. Like their previous compilation, it only costs a tiny £3.99 with the option and encouragement to dig deeper if you can afford to. 36 tracks for less than 4 quid and you get to do your bit for charity, it's a no brainer really...
In the wake of last weekends fourth AvP gig, it's great to be able to welcome back one of our former acts, Glasgow's finest we're only afraid of NYC. It's been far too long since we've heard anything from the three piece, so their return is a more than welcome one, you can download their new single, 'Walls' for now via their Bandcamp page. The band play King Tuts this coming Sunday (28th August) as part of the series of RocknRoll Damnation nights. They will also be releasing another free download single in a few weeks time which is equally as ace/ It's great to have you back boys, just don't leave it as long next time.
From one former AvP band making a triumphant return, we have another band who are sadly going on a bit of a hiatus. As I am sure that most of you are already aware, Mitchell Museum have decided to take an extended leave. Personally I am gutted that they're as good as calling it a day, Mitchell Museum were also one of my favourite Scottish bands, they made some of the most ridiculously catchy pop tunes this country has ever produced, that and they're some of the nicest folk that you're ever likely to meet. As a parting note the band have made their last ever song, 'Bring out the claws, the claws are out', available to download for free. I guess all we can do now is keep wur fingers crossed that we one day herald the return of the mighty Mitchell Museum.
Following my friend Jim 'Ayetunes' on twitter can be painstaking task at times, if he's not tweeting about his next sexual conquest (as it happens), he can mainly be found to be setting himself on fire. He does pull out the occasional gem from time to time, this week he pointed out that Foxface hadn't actually disappeared off the face of the earth as I once presumed. They have instead been busy recording a whole host of new material all of which you can now download for free on their SoundCloud page.
What with me being so blinkered to any music that's not Scottish, I missed the fact that Azure Ray released a new album, Drawing Down the Moon, last year. Somehow I had it in my head that they'd split up. I guess that shows what I know these days, I'm just an old failed hipster, that's no longer down with the kids. If like me you missed their return you're in luck as you can download two free tracks from the album via the Saddle Creek website.
I have been promising myself a beak for ages now, but there's always been something that's sprung up that's made me keep going. However, seeing as it's the summer time and things are a wee bit quieter I have decided to cut back on my posts for a few weeks. I will still be posting the odd session here and there, plus I will have a few Fresh Monday posts and perhaps a sporadic ramble or two. However, there will be no Friday Freebies posts for the a few weeks and I'll also be taking a break from my Scots Way-Hay posts so I can recharge my batteries a wee bit.
But before I bugger off here's some news for y'all...
Peenko favourites, Mitchell Museum return with a new single which comes out on Monday, it's called 'What They Built' and it's the bands first new track in the lead up to their second album release which is due out in early 2012. The single will be out digitally, plus there is also going to be a super exclusive run of children's keyboards with the single download code hidden somewhere inside. Apparently you have two options to reclaim the code: A: Systematically remove the screws from the underside of the keyboard to gain access or B: Smash it to pieces.
The band celebrate the singles release with a show tonight with a gig at Stereo in Glasgow, support comes from their friends Fur Hood and Andrea Marini (last I head one of these two had pulled out, not sure which one though), it all kicks off. If any of you kind souls have extra pennies to spare and you're going to this gig I'd love you forever if you could pick me up up one of them pretty keyboards. Yeah I know the chances of anyone doing this are pretty fucking slim, but I can only ask...
If you're out about in Edinburgh tonight then you might want to get yourself along to a fundraising event for The SSC (A Club for the Youth of Scotland) at the Cabaret Voltaire. Doing their bit for charity are none other than Washington Irving (who I caught for the first time last Sunday and were ace), Bwani Juntion, Matt Norris & the Moon, and recent Scots Way-Hay starlet, Mike Nisbet. The gig kicks off at 7pm, you can pre-order tickets in advance here. Further information on the gig can be found on Facebook.
If Mitchell Museum aren't your thing, but you're still looking for something to do in Glasgow tonight, then Nice N Sleazy's might be for you, as Aberdeen's finest sons Indian Red Lopez are in town to promote their cracking debut album 'Empty Your Lungs and Breathe'. The boys were on top form when they played the bloggers showcase night at goNorth, so I can vouch that they're great to see live. Support tonight comes from local starlets Blue Sky Archives and The Brazen Cars, it's only £5 to get in and it all kicks off at 8pm. Further details can be found here.
On Tuesday night BBC Scotland will be airing their documentary on the Scottish bands that played at this years SXSW Festival. This will include Peenko favourites such as Kid Canaveral, Admiral Fallow, The Twilight Sad, Bronto Skylift, Withered Hand and King Creosote among other. The show will be on at 9pm on BBC2, however, you can watch a wee taster video below:
The Electric Frog Summer Weekender returns on the 30th-31st of July. The festival which is held at SWG3 (street & warehouse) in Glasgow, this years feature performances from bands such as The Fall, Nitzer Ebb, Chrome Hoof, Errors and a lot more. Early bird tickets are available now, with day tickets setting you back £22.50 (+ booking fees) and weekend tickets at £40 (+ booking fees). Further details can be found on the festivals website.
On Thursday Born To Be Wide are hosting a seminar explaining how to get music synched in ads, TV, film and computer games. The event takes place from 1930-2130 at Edinburgh’s Electric Circus and will be followed by Buy What You Hear DJ sets in partnership with the Oxfam Record Shop. Confirmed speakers include Gerry Farrell, creative director of the Leith Agency and David Harron, Executive producer at BBC Scotland. They will be joined by one of Scotland’s leading music supervisors, Caroline Gorman from Rage Music and David McGinnis, A&R and head of licensing at Mute Song. An additional guest is expected to be confirmed in the coming days. “Getting music synced can be a valuable source of extra income for musicians, and can also generate useful exposure,” says Born To Be Wide co-organiser, Olaf Furniss. “Each of the panellists is an invaluable source of information and will be able to shed light on this aspect of the business.” The seminar will cover how the music choices are made, how much money is paid and will provide tips on the best way of getting music used. Following the panel, the participants will DJ with tunes they have selected from the Oxfam Record Shop and everything played will be available to buy. Further details on how to book tickets and the like can be found here.
Right I guess that's enough from me for one post, I'm going to finish up with this cracking wee video this years Homegame Festival. The video is sound tracked by Kid Canaveral and their cover of King Creosote's 'Missionary' which they originally covered as part of a session that they did for Vic Galloway last year. This studio recording even features King C on backing vocals and accordion and it sounds ace if I do say so myself. If you pre-order their album 'Shouting At Wildlife' on vinyl, they'll send you on old school cassette tape which features my favourite song on the album ʻAnd Another Thing!!ʼ and the studio recording of 'Missionary' (the tape also includes a download code). You can pre-order the album on vinyl through Fence Records, the band will also be playing on the BBC Introducing Stage next Saturday at T in the Park.
The Seventeenth Century return with a their second EP, cunningly entitled 'EP2', on the 2nd May. The release will be available exclusively on Limited Edition 10” vinyl, which includes a free digital download code. The band celebrate the release with a gig at Oran Mor this coming Friday (29th), with support from The Scottish Enlightenment and Sunshine Social. Now that's one cracking line up if I do say so myself. Having caught 17C at the same venue just a few weeks back, I can vouch that they were in top form. The Scottish Enlightenment have been favourites of mine for a while now, it's been ages since I saw them live, so I am really looking forward to seeing them again. As for Sunshine Social, I will admit that until I got told about this gig I'd never heard of them, however, now that I have I will be making sure that I get myself along to this one nice and early -I might well be lying to myself here as nowadays with Erin on the scene I feel like I am continuously running late, I will try and get there on time though! Tickets for the gig are on sale now on Ticketweb and on Ticket Scotland for just £5.
Seeing as most of us are all off work tomorrow, there's not really an excuse for you not be venturing out this evening (not unless of course you want to avoid the war zone cause by Old Firm chaos). If you're looking for something cheap, yet utterly brilliant to do, then look no further. As part of their 3rd birthday celebrations, The Captains Rest have Kid Canaveral, Mitchell Museum, How to Swim, Heart Beats, Apples of Energy and Dear Mountaineer all playing and tickets for the gig are just £3. Plus as if that wasn't a bargain already, pizzas and burgers are also only £3. Which means you can get yourself a drink, get some scran and get into a gig for under a tenner. Nae bad, nae bad at all... Also, Kid Canaveral and Mitchell Museum on the same bill at the Captains Rest, I wish we'd thought of that ;)
The third ‘Brain Storm’ event is set to take place on Saturday 7th May 2011 at Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s and will help raise money for Edinburgh’s Sick Kids charity. The event will be headlined by Bathgate alt-rock duo The Fire and I, with support from Edinburgh trio Scrap Brain and female fronted Glasgow pop-rockers Acrylic iQon.
The event is also the first announced fringe event of the official launch party for No Colour Too Strong to Paint, a charity compilation album of Edinburgh bands organised by Youngteam Records to raise money for The Sick Kids Friends Foundation and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. Scrap Brain have contributed their track ‘I Want You, You Want the Devil’ to the 21-track album.
ickets are available for low price of £3 in advance from TicketWeb, Great Junction Street Music Studios, or from Scrap Brain. Tickets will be £5 on the door.
I'll round up this random wee news post with a video I got sent by a band called Natalie Pryce. If you like folk such as Nick Cave or Tom Waits, then this should be right up your street...
Apologies for the lack of a Friday Freebies last week, I'm afraid that I got struck down by a dose of the dreaded man flu and was pretty useless to man nor beast. On the plus side I now have a double dose of free shit to share with you all, bet your chuffed to bits with that news. Either that or you don't give two fucks and are too excited about the prospect of getting hammered tonight and eating the face of random strangers. Either here's this weeks freebies........
Mitchell Museum Those luverly Mitchell Museum kids recorded an EP especially to give to you all for Christmas, what a nice bunch they are. The tunes aren't too shabby neither, in fact I'd go as far as saying they're pretty fecking awesome. Stop what you're doing and go and download 'The Closer We Got The Harder We Fell' for free on their Bandcamp.
King Post Kitsch I must admit that I am pretty excited about the forthcoming KPK album which is due in March on Song By Toad Records, as a wee pre-cursor of what to expect he's very kindly giving away a download of a new track called 'Movies & Magazines'. After listening to the track a couple of times it just made me want to hear the album even more, you can hear what' getting me all excited by following this link where you can download the track for free.
FOUND Not content with already having one of the greatest album you're likely to hear in 2011, those amazing FOUND boys gave away a whole albums worth of remixes last Friday. If you're quick off the mark then you might still be able to download yourself a copy. While we're on this wee FOUND-trip, I also wanted to point you in the direction of this EP that Tommy from the band recorded using car sounds, it might sound pretentious as fuck, but it's actually pretty good. It's also free (unsurprisingly) and you can find it here.
Call To Mind For me personally, Call To Mind's debut EP was one of the most beautiful releases of this year, now they're giving it away as a free download there are no excuses for you not to check it out. With their debut album due to arrive at some point in 2011 it should be one hell of a year for these guys.
Adam Stafford The YIFI frontman has a new solo album, 'Build a Harbour Immediately', due out early next year. As wee taster of what to expect, you can download new track 'A Temple of The Holy Ghost' for free on his Bandcamp.
King Tuts As they did during the summer, King Tuts are running a few nights of local talent at the start of January, under the banner of New Year's Revolution. As they're getting into the festive spirit of giving stuff away fore free, they've compiled a wee compilation of some the artists they have lined up, down it in exchange for your details here.
The Darien Venture Those lovely Darien boys are giving away their cover of the Christmas classic, 'Feed the World' as their festive gift to you all. Just right click, save and it's all yours. How to Swim I wouldn't even know where to start if I was to try and pigeon hole How To Swim under some kind of genre, let's just say it's not dull. If you fancy delving into the unknown then you their free festive EP, 'Santa Has All The Best Tunes' is a good starting point. It's available to download for free on their Bandcamp.
A Band Called Quinn Louis Quinn's pop starlets have a free download of their tune 'I Wish You Love' up for grabs as part of their A Band Called Quinn Advent Calendar. Nice.
How Garbo Died There are a whole load of goodies up for grabs for nowt on their Bandcamp page, including a festive tune which is interesting to say the least
Mariachi Eli Bronx For one week onlry, Mariachi El Bronx are giving away a free download of their Christmas song, 'Lady Rosales', all you need to do is sign up to their mailing list and it's all yours.
St Etienne Head over to RCRD LBL where you will find a free download of St. Etienne's festive song 'No Cure For The Common Christmas' Bright Eyes Conor Oberst is giving away a taster of what to expect from his forthcoming album The People’s Key, in the form of new track ‘Shell Games.’ Iron & Wine Just follow this link to download “Tree By the River” from Iron & Wine’s forthcoming album Kiss Each Other Clean.
Stanley Odd As a wee festive treat the Scottish hi-hop outfit are giving away their track 'Ten to One (Solareye Demo)' away for free on their Bandcamp.
Owen Pallett The artist formerly known as Final Fantasy, or the guy that does the strings in Arcade Fire or the man who Poo's Clouds, however you want to know him, is giving away an EP worth of material for free here.
Gorillaz I am guessing most of you already know about this one, but just to be on the safe side here it is. The Gorillaz gave away a whole album's worth of material on Christmas Day, recorded over the past few months on Damon Albarn's iPad, you can download 'The Fall' here.
The Decemberists I am pretty sure I have already posted this, but in case you missed or my mind is just playing tricks on me you can download The Decemberists new single 'Down By The Water' for free on iTunes.
Verbicide Magazine Have a wee compilation up for grabs featuring songs from Deer Tick, Slow Club and The Hush Now, you can find it here.
Yeasayer Fancy a wee Yeasayer live album, then look no further as they've posted up a free download of one of their live shows. Recorded at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels on October 28th, 2010, you can download it here.
Pixies Another band giving away free live recording are the Pixies, who have posted up four from London in 2004, and one from Athens in 1989, which you can find here.
Domino Records The influential label have a wee compilation up for grabs, including tracks from Four Tet, Steve Mason and Orange Juice. You can find it here here.
6DayRiot The London based folk outfit (fronted by a Scot) have posted a free download of their cover of the Pretenders classic '2000 Miles'. Download it here.
Tracey Thorn Download yourself a free cover version of Tracey Thorn's take on the Sufjan Stevens' seasonal classic, 'Sister Winter'.
The Klaxons If I am honest I've never seen the appeal of the Klaxons, but I am sure that some of you out there must like/have liked them at some point. In which case you might be interested in their new EP 'Landmarks of Lunacy' which they're giving away for free.
You Animals They've put together an EP of alternate version of some of the tracks from their forthcoming debut album and they’re giving it away absolutely free.
Gizeh Records Home to folk like Conquering Animal Sound, worriedaboutsatan and Sleepingdog, the Leeds based indie label have a free sampler up for grabs. It includes tracks from the aforementioned bands, plus a whole load of other goodies. Download it here.
Monday - Alongside this weeks Fresh Meat starlets, Rose Parade, there was the big announcement that the National had been voted as this years winners of the second ever Scottish BAMS award. Tuesday - our good friend Brian shared with us a session that Loch Awe recorded for his show on Fresh Air Wednesday - Part 2 of my artists albums of the year, including selections from A Band Called Quinn, Burnt Island, Come on Gang!, RM Hubbert and the Last Battle Thursday - there were sessions from Yusuf Azak, Sparrow and the Workshop and Erland & the Carnival. There was also a wee mention of my five minutes of fame... Friday - Belle and Sebastian in session for Marc Riley, plus an epic Friday Freebies with tunes from Call To Mind, Zoey Van Goey and Seafieldroad all up for grabs Saturday - continuing on with my festive covers, I had Arab Strap's take on Xmas (Baby Please Come Home) in We've Got It Covered
News, gigs and any other gubbins......
Tonight at Sleazys Electra French are having their very own Christmas Party, with Mitchell Musuem, The Seventeenth Century and Fur Hood. It all kicks off at 8pm tonight, through until 3am, it's only £4 and you get a free Mitchell Museum chucked in there too. If you're quick off the mark then you might still be able to pre-order tickets through Electra French's Bandcamp page.
If you're free in Glasgow on Wednesday night and looking for something awesome to do, then get yourself down to the 13th Note. As a wee thanks to everyone who has shown us so much support in the last few months, myself and Halina are going to be hosting our very own Olive Grove Christmas Party. After the success that we've had with the Randolph's Leap EP and more recently with Esperi's 'Snowman' single, we felt that it would be pretty fitting to have our very own wee shindig. So on Wednesday, Randolph's Leap and Esperi will be joined by the 61st Hottest person in Scotland, the wonderful RM Hubbert. We'll also have a selection of backed goods on sale, plus the lovely 'I Heart...' will have her own wee stall set up for you to do some last minute Christmas shopping.
All of this and I haven't even mentioned that this is a free gig, it would be great to see some familiar and some unfamiliar faces down for the evening. It's going to be an amazing night!
Bronto Skylift One of themost ferosious live bands I have ever seen and also the newest members to join the Scots Way-Hay club. If you weren't paying attention on Wednesday, then to make sure you make sure you use this opporuntity to check this noisey duo out. You can download yourself their track 'Wolf' as taken from their debut album' The White Crow', for free on their Bandcamp page. Arran Arctic London based musician Beatoven has just remixed his latest single, 'The Door', which is equal parts glitchy electronica and bone rattling bass. The original single is still up for grabs as well, until next month, when both it and the remix will be replaced by another brand new single. Keep those eyes peeled kids.
We Are Trees Boy this is confusing, I first came across this link on Listen Before You Buy (great blog btw), I thought I knew who this band were. Turned out there's two 'We Are Trees', I had presumed this was from the Welsh band, turned out that it was actually a Virginia Beach outfit. I think I prefer this combo over their Celtic namesakes. Anyway, the point that I am struggling to get to, is that they have an EP called Boyfriend up for free on their Bandcamp.
Dr Martens The footwear making company is celebrating it's 50th birthday this year, to celebrate they have drafted in a whole load of musicians to do some covers for them, including The Cinematic Orchestra taking on Jeff Buckley and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's take on the Pogues classic 'Dirty Old Town'. Check out what they have on offer here. Mitchell Museum Those crazy kids, they've only gone and posted a free mixtape up for your listening pleasure, it's called 'Giant Robot Mix', there's some remixes of stuff by Animal Collective and Modest Mouse (I think), whatever is on there it's all good.
Aberfeldy The twee pop starlets are back after what seems like an age away, they have a new album, 'Somewhere To Jump From' coming out on the 23rd of August. As a taster of what to expect the fabulous 405 website has posted a free download of 'In Denial' from the album. It's a welcome return from a band I had kind of thought we had seen the last of, I can't wait to hear the album in full. The band also embark on a tour of Scotland in October, check their Myspace for more details.
Badly Drawn Boy Will he ever be able to find relive those heady days of his debut album, I doubt it, but he still does seem to be able to knock out some catchy wee tunes. His forthcoming album 'It's What I'm Thinking Part One: Photographing Snowflakes', an easy one to remember, is out in October. As a taster of what to expect he's put up a free MP3 of new demo called 'In Safe Hands', all you have to do is sign up to his mailing list.
The Japanese War Effort Matthew 'Song By Toad' described them as "one of the best bands in Scotland", now that's quite a bold statement. You can check out if he's right by downloading their free EP 'Surrender to Summer' on their Bandcamp. Wild Beasts They are up for this years Mercury Prize, to be honest with you they don't do much for me, but then again what do I know. If you are a fan, or your just a little curious then you might interested to learn that if you click on the link at the end of this ramble, then you can download the new Wild Beasts EP 'We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues', be quick though as it's only up for one week.
Domino The record label have posted up a free compilation featuring Steve Mason, Owen Pallett, The Fall and Dirty Porjectors among others, just over to Amazon and get downloading. Inachus The second release by multi instrumentalist Rob Honey, otherwise known as Inachus is up for free download. He has taken his influences from artists such as Clint Mansell, Mike Patton, Imogen Heap and Curtis Mayfield and blended it to create a very atmospheric and experimental sound.
Azure Ray It's been a long long time since I have heard anything from this lot, in fact I can remember buying their album 'Hold On Love' quite a few years ago based purely on the basis that Sons & Daughters were supporting them. They sound nothing like S&D's, but I still really liked the album, so it was a nice surprise this week when Stereogum posted a new song, 'Don't Leave My Mind' which is from their new album due out next month. Teengirl Fantasy Not the easiest band to search for without having to explain yourself to your wife, they're a Brooklyn duo (seriously do all bands from there automatically become buzz bands?!). They play dreamy synth-rock apparently, and hipster central Pitchfork have a free download of their song 'Cheaters' up for grabs.
Nevada Base I am pretty sure I posted a freebie from these guys just a week or so ago, but then again my memory is shot, so what do I know. Basically they have posted their song 'Feel That Way' up for nothing, it's in WAV format so it might take a wee bit longer to download.
Best Coast They seem to be the buzz band of this week, or at least they seem to be every where I go. I've still to listen to any of the songs, but going by everyone else's reaction they are defo ones to be watching. Personally I have spent most of this week getting far too over excited about 'The Suburbs', what an album. Aye so back to the point, head over to RCRD LBL for some free Best Coast stuff.
Silver Columns The no longer mysterious duo are releasing their next single in September, 'Always On', and it's backed by a Caribou remix of the track which you can download here. Sarah Masen The folk singer songwriter has posted her song 'A History of Lights and Shadows' up for free download, in order to get it you have to tweet, email or Facebook it though.
Sara Lowes A free download of her song ‘Caught In A Wonder' taken from her third EP is up for grabs over on her homepage.
Thrush/Divorce The Winning Sperm Party have posted a split release featuring Thrush and Divorce, you can download yourself a copy here.
Callme Ishmael Our good friend the 'Doc' ran a wee feature on these guys earlier in the week, check it here. Then he was good enough to share this little nugget of knowledge with us, two of their songs 'The Fire In Side' and 'The Beast That Screamed At The Heart Of The World' are both up for free download here. The Radical Dads Not being content with just one freebie this week, Kowalskiy has decided to bless us with yet another freebie. This one is 3 tracks from Robbie from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's new band, The Radical Dads. Just scroll down and submit your email address and they'll send you some tunes.
Monday - The Recovery Club provided some very tasty Fresh Meat Tuesday - Erland and the Carnivals Radio Scotland session Wednesday - Cancel the Astronauts became the newest entry into the much coveted (or perhaps not) Scots Way-Hay club Thursday - Be Like Pablo were in doing a wee session for the Vicmeister, plus I had an exclusive Track By Track run through of the fabulous new Mitchell Museum album 'The Peters Port Memorial Service' Friday - I had a veritable feast of freebies this week, including great stuff from I Build Collapsible Mountains, q without u, dems, the A Forest, Bear Driver, Cults and a late entry from So Many Animal Calls Saturday - We've Got It Covered #9 saw Peenko favourites we're only afraid of NYC taking on Tom Waits 'Fannin Street', quite stunning it is too.
News, gigs and any other gubbins......
It's shameless I know, but hey I don't care this is my blog, if me and Jim and are putting on a gig and we want to plug it I bloody well will. Next Saturday heralds the second 'Ayetunes vs Peenko' gig. It's going to be fucking amazing. Fact. No question here kids, I appreciate that it's the middle of summer, but fuck it there's nothing that's quite going to match up to what we have lined up next weekend's Ayetunes vs Peenko 2. we're only afraid of NYC, Randolph's Leap and Little Yellow Ukueleles, bit of an eclectic bill isn't it. It most certainly is, there are only two daft twats out there in Glasgow/Paisley stupid enough/brave enough to put such a line up together. Personally I am excited as fuck, even if you're not, you will soon understand why the pair of us are after seeing what we have instore for you all. Did I just rant at you lot? Were you listening? If you were, sorry kids. If you weren't FFS pay attention kids. I guess I'll see you next Saturday, I'll be the bearded muppet with the cheesy ass grin.
In other news Mitchell Museum (we like them), launched their debut album tomorrow on Vinyl and Download, apparently a CD will be released later in the year. Am I the only person that still buys CD's? I know everyone loves their vinyl, but it just isn't for me I'm afraid. Bugger I'm rambling again. Aye, so they have a 'secret' album launch night on Wednesday, not sure if you can still blag an invite to that, you'll have to contact the band to find out. I still haven't gotten to the point of what I was trying to say, which is that they're doing an instore gig at Fopp on Wednesday afternoon or so Jim Ayetunes tells me. Check their website/Fopp's website, not my blog for details.
There are still tickets left for ScotT Hutchison gig at Stereo this Tuesday, for only a fiver you can catch plus the Frightened Rabbit frontman playing alongside Ross Clark (Three Blind Wolves) and Jonny Sellar (My Cousin I Bid You Farewell). They will all be performing solo sets in aid of the charity A-T Society. Tickets are on sale here.
So you wait for years for a classic Scottish indie-pop album to come out, and then two come out in the space of a week. Monday saw the release of Kid Canaveral's amazing 'Shouting At Wildlife', next week sees the release of Mitchell Museum's debut album 'The Peters Port Memorial Service'. Another album we've had to wait a while for, but then again after finally getting my hands on a copy on Monday night, it was more than worth the wait. I guess it might sound lazy of me, but it's difficult for me not to compare this album to the Super Furry Animals or the Flaming Lips. Both of those bands make unconventional indie-pop songs, that are both catchy and just that little bit bonkers. It works, I don't why or how it works, it just does. Now it's time for me to pass you over to Cammy to talk you through the album....
We won 2nd Prize
This song refused to sit anywhere else on the album. We asked it to go in the middle and it said “NO WAY”. We then politely tried to persuade it to take a seat at track 13 (The last song on the album….but it was all like… “I’m the first song on the album! You play me first at gigs and people even call me the first song, so I’m sitting at the front of this junk pop bus. Like it or p*ss off” To be fair our songs aren’t normally so….rude….but we still like We won 2nd prize.
This is the first single form peters port memorial service. A man called Ewan Millar from the Skinny said this about it “Mitchell Museum cheerfully sing about nearly drowning in a hospital of razors, whilst sounding like Mercury Rev jamming with Panda Bear (and presumably laughing hysterically and twitching lots)” maybe he’s right…maybe he’s not…..but if I know anything for sure I know that….if you listen carefully you can just (barely) hear me blowing a straw into a glass of water to make that sort of “octopuses garden” bubble sound. It pans round your head in stereo, and took us about an hour and a half to do. Andy Bush (who recorded and co-produced the album with us) didn’t seem to mind me spitting water over his most expensive condenser mic…..How he felt with it being turned right down in the mix?….well….I haven’t asked him about that….and probably wont any time soon.
Room for Improvement
This is one of my favourite songs on the album. To make this song we took the chord progression from Elton Johns “Can you feel the love tonight” (From the lion king) , jumbled up the lyrics to Hot Chocolates “You sexy thing” and stole a drum fill from Phil Collins…That’s… of course not true. It is one of my favourite songs on the album though. The title comes from something that my granddad said (I call him Papa in real life…but feel it sounds childish so from now on I’ll refer to him as “Big G Sharp”). Me and Raindeer were visiting our grandparents and we were talking about the album to Big G Sharp. We were saying that the recordings were sounding really good and he said something about “There’s always room for improvement though”….or something like that….and then he started laughing a lot…and we did too….and then he said you can call your next song that if you want…and we did…..and then he said “Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall ‘cause he was a lazy bastard” and that is true. Big G Sharp is some man….
The Peters Port Memorial Service
Peters Port is a place in Uist. I lived in Uist for a bit. I used to come back to Uist for Holidays with my family..... We don’t anymore….and we wont again. This is a track that marks the end of that. It’s a fairly experimental track. A fond farewell to a holiday home I won’t see again.
Take the Tongue Out
This is the first Mitchell museum song that I wrote. I used to sing “Rip the Tongue out”…but that just seemed a bit…violent. The songs actually based around a terrible noise that Raindeer made at the New Years party that gave birth to our band. He was banging his fist on a piano and Dougie, Kris and myself started joining in….and haven’t really stopped since. The originally New Years Eve version of the song lasted for about 14 minutes and wasn’t very good. There’s an interesting fact for Popup video!
No. 3
This song was terrible at first. We had been playing the song slightly differently live and when we first listened back to a rough mix of it we realised that it really didn’t fit with the feel of the rest of the album. I was really worried about it as it had been a live favourite for a while and we were seriously thinking about bumping it off the album…Which would have been a real shame. I made a couple of new demo versions of it and one finally worked. I play a little bit of electric guitar on this one. That’s something that I never normally do…electric guitars scare me.
I think this is quite a sad song. In terms of what it’s about anyway. The lyrics (as most of the lyrics on the album) are quite abstract so I suppose it’s not entirely clear what it’s about….but I’d rather that these songs felt like they belonged to you, so you can make up your on personal sad interpretation of what it’s about. This song features mike for the seventeenth century. He’s playing cornet on this because it sounded a lot better than my squawky keyboard. Mike plays on two other tracks on the album….and he’s very good at playing the cornet…. and he’s a very very nice guy!
Ok…so I’m going to go against what I just said about not telling you what the songs are about. For this one time only! This song is partly about the first funeral I ever attended. YAY!!! It’s more about the people that attended the funeral though. Horrible, greedy little people. The person that passed away was an impressively intelligent, extremely funny and exceptionally caring lady, but the people that were at her funeral seemed to care more about who was going to be taking her antique ornaments home. There was an argument about a gramophone and a porcelain ballerina….it made me sick to my stomach. Making a song is the best way to help me deal with that kind of thing.
Cut Lantern
This song utilises our DJX sample keyboard to maximum effect. The song is made up of lots of little sampled phrases (“Little” being the appropriate word as the DJX on has a 6 second sample memory) A recorder, a giant lion and the sound of Dougies head being dragged across a wooden table are just some of the sounds that you might be able to pick out of this song.
Copy and Paste
The demo for this song was made on my mobile phone. I recorded the sound of me banging my fist against the handset whilst singing a vague melody. I broke my phone after that. This song also has some extra friends singing on it. A man called Nitro is on it and you can hear him quite clearly….he has a strong manly voice….for an English teacher.
Bleed The Bottle
Here’s an interesting fact about this song….well slightly interesting. There are clarinets playing in the verse of this song …but the part that they collectively play was originally written by Dougie on the guitar, and then he suggested the idea of swapping one guitar for 3 clarinets….So each clarinet represents the 3 strings that were used to make the chord that Dougie was plucking on the guitar….or something…. It was a hard thing to do….but we got there in the end. Mikes on this again making his lovely Mike cornet noise.
A Series of Instructions
Is a instrumental piece that links the last 2 songs together. Again there’s quite a lot of DJX sampley stuff going on. There’s also a lot of us banging our feet on the ground in Andy Bushes kitchen. It’s quite a noisy affair.
Novels and diaries
In much the same way that “we one second prize” argued that its rightful place was at the start of the album. Novels and Diaries was quite adamant that it belonged at the end of the album…and we agreed. So we got some of our friends together, made them drink a box of white wine, gave them some Pringles and invited them to shout over the top of our song….and they did…and it was fun. A memory that I hope to hang on to for quite a long time.
The Peters Port Memorial Service is out on July the 12th through Electra French Records, you can pre-order a copy on very sexy 12" over on the bands website or alternatively you can buy a copy through Amazon or iTunes. The band are celebrating the release of their album with a semi-secret gig on the 14th of July, you'll need to email the band to get the password mind you. You can find further details on the event here. Also, if you are heading along to T in the Park tomorrow (9th) then make sure you head along to the T Break stage to catch the guys playing live. Trust me you won't regret it!
