Scotland noisiest duo, Bronto Skylift have just announced details of their forthcoming Scottish tour with Lady North. Having released their new single, 'Positive Gentleman' on limited edition cassette on CATH Records, as part of this years Record Store Day. Iain and Nial are going to be hitting up Edinburgh, Dundee, Inverness, Thurso and Aberdeen this coming May. Full details on tickets and dates can be found in the bands Facebook page.
Up and coming Edinburgh outfit, Urvanovic, are set to release their debut single, Bubblewrap on 16th June. In anticipation of it's release they've made this rather cracking video to go with it. If this is the standard of things to come then I look forward to hearing more.
My fellow blogger friend Stu Lewis really has caught the bug for putting on gigs, fresh from running Avalanches evening Record Store gig bonanza, he's just announced the next in his series of The Tidal Wave of Indifference Presents gigs which will take place on Saturday the 23d of June at the Wee Red Bar in Edinburgh. This time round he's roped in a whole host of talent, including hot new Edinburgh outfit The Bad Books, who I have yet to hear, but have been promised big things. Plus Peenko favourites Loch Awe, with The Spook School and The New Fabian Society completing the bill. You've got to give the boy credit, he certainly knows how to pull a line up together. Further information on the gig can be found here.
On Thursday the10th of May, CAOS Calling, are putting on a charity event in order to raise funds for CAOS, Community Arts that's based out in Clydebank. Performing on the night you have Jo Mango, Open Swimmer, Blochestra and also spoken word performances by Drew Taylor and comedy from Duncan Graham. Tickets for the gig are just £7 on the door or you can buy one in advance here..
Rather than releasing his new single on a boring old product such as a CD or 7" vinyl. The Pictish Trail has instead opted to go with something a wee bit novel and has decided to release his a brand new single, Of Course You Exist, as part of a download bundle in which you purchase his T-shirt or Sweatshirt from the Fence Records website and you get the songs chucked in to boot. Having picked up one of those 'snazzy' jumpers at Eye O The Dug, I can vouch for their cosiness. The Pictish Trail is all set to release a new EP in July with an album following later in the year. You can catch Johnny playing live at the CCA in Glasgow with Kid Canaveral and Johnny Common on the 3rd of May. He'll then be back in our dear green city on May 13 when he headlines the next Peas 'n' Loaf night at the Old Hairdressers (across from Stereo) with French Wives and Siobhan Wilson.
To finish off this massive rambling post we have the new video for King Creosote and John Hopkins new song, 'Third Swan', which was released on 7" as part of this years Record Store Day celebrations. Having queued up an ungodly hour of the morning last Saturday, I am pretty chuffed that I managed to get my paws on a copy. The song also features on the Jubilee Edition of the re-release of the Mercury and SAY Awards nominated album, Diamond Mine. I can't think of a better way to sign off than to leave you with this little gem...
So you wait for one rambling news post, then along come two in one week. If you're not a fan of my tired inane ramblings then you may want to look away now...
First up, the list of acts invited to showcase at this years goNORTH were announced earlier this week. The event which sees some of the most exciting up and coming bands playing across Inverness city centre takes place on the 6th and 7th of June, in case you haven't seen the line up already it looks something like this:
Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward and Fisher, Aaron Wright, Blindfolds, Blue Sky Archives, Brown Bear and the Bandits, Cafe Disco, Campfires in Winter, Cancel The Astronauts, Cherri Fosphate, Chris Devotion and The Expectations, CLEAVERS, DARC, Dead Boy Robotics, Esperi, Fat Goth, French Wives, Galleries, Grace Weber, Graham Brown, Honningbarna, Iain Mclaughlin & The Outsiders, Ilona, John Wean, Jonathan Sebastian Knight, Lady North, Letters, Make Sparks, Mass Consensus, Matt Norris & The Moon, Maydays, Michael Cassidy, Miniature Dinosaurs, Miss Irenie Rose, Nelson Can, Olympic Swimmers, Open Swimmer, Oskar Empire, Pioneers of Love, Plum, Polaroid Fiction, Pronto Mama, Quickbeam, Red Kites, Sebastian Dangerfield, Selective Service, Smoothiesforme, Stanley Odd, Star Wheel Press, Team Kapowski, The Little Kicks, The Machine Room, The Mirror Trap, The Mixups, The Stagger Rats, The Whisky River Band, The Winter Tradition, Them & Us, This Silent Forest, Vigo Thieves, Washington Irving, We Came From Wolves, Where We Lay Our Heads, Xavia and Yusaf Azak.
Having been asked to sit on the panel of judges again, I am pretty pleased to see that quite a few of my choices made it on there. Sadly there were a few that didn't make it on there, but hey you can't win them all. The next big debate will be about the four bands that we myself, Song, by Toad and The Pop Cop will want to play at our showcase night. I know who I want, but I can't quite see the other two agreeing with me. The one thing I do know for certain is that is that it's going to take a hell of a lot to top last years showcase line up of Kid Canaveral, PAWS, LightGuides and IndianRedLopez.
If you've never been to goNorth before I'd highly recommended it, although if my experiences are anything to go by, then your liver might not thank you for it.
I couldn't be arsed staying up until midnight for the announcement of the bands playing at this years Wickerman, because quite frankly all you really to know is who is going to be playing The Solus Tent this year. Having a bit of a history of unearthing some of the most exciting new bands this wee country of ours has to offer. Headlining the tent this year will be none other than other than United Fruit and Malcolm Middleton's new project, Human Don’t Be Angry, ooft! The rest of the line up looks something like this Anderson McGinty Webster Ward and Fisher, Beerjacket, Bigg Taj & Spee SixNine, Chris Devotion and The Expectations, The Cosmic Dead, Fridge Magnets, Grant Me Revenge, Hector Bizerk, Hey Enemy, Holy Mountain, Julia & The Doogans (with guests The Hidden Lane Choir), The Lafontaines, The Machine Room, Martin John Henry, The Birthday Suit, Salo, There Will Be Fireworks and Vasquez.
Sadly there will be no Wickerman adventures for me this year as I am off to AwayGame that weekend. Still though if you're thinking about heading down again it comes highly recommended. And once again your liver won't thank you for it - fuck, I am starting to see a bit of a theme to my time away from Mrs Peenko now!
The Solus Crew - They're Even Sexier In Real Life
Looking a bit closer to home, there are a fair few decent gigs coming your way in the next few months. One of which will take place next Thursday at the Captain's Rest, where Randolph's Leap will be headlining the next Communion Glasgow show. Support for the night comes from Saul Ashby, This Silent Forest, Sam Airey and Bronagh Monahan. Tickets for the gig are available to pre-order now (£6 + £1 BF).
Randolph's Leap will also be playing alongside King Creosote and The Pictish Trail at Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket on Monday the 18th of June. The concert is being put on by the Scottish Refugee Council and British Red Cross to launch Refugee Week Scotland 2012. Tickets are available here.
It seems like every man and his dog are playing this Saturday, on top of this years Record Store Day celebrations, you have FOUND, Aidan Moffat and Miaoux Miaoux at SWG3 and Holy Mountain,What The Blood Revealed and Adam Stafford at Sleazy's. Personally I can't make it to any gigs that night as Mrs Peenko is away on a girly weekend, which means that I am on daddy duties. If I was able to make it out though, I know where I'd be headed and that'd be to the Arches to catch RM Hubbert and Martin John Henry. Sadly though I will have to console myself with my purchases from the mornings Record Store Day shopping spree.
If you already follow me on Twitter you will have seen me getting a little over excited about a gig that some of my friends at from a stolen sea have organised as part of the closing party for this years West End Festival. Check this for a line up: We Were Promised Jetpacks, Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells, R.M. Hubbert, Remember Remember, Withered Hand, Monoganon, Wounded Knee and theapplesofenergy. Now that's what I call a beast of a line up and it's not finished there as there are still some more acts to be announced in the coming days, there should be around 20 in total. The event which takes place in Oran Mor in Glasgow takes place on Sunday the 24th of June, with gigs being held in the auditorium, the venue and the bar. Early bird tickets are available now for the bargain sum of £12 then £15 thereafter. As if that wasn't enough for you, the organisers will be installing their bespoke 5.1 Surround Sound system. Further information on the event and tickets can be found here.
Right I think I have rambled enough for one post, so I'll round this post up with the new video from Admiral Fallow for their song 'The Paper Trench' taken from their sophomore album, 'Tree Bursts In Snow' which is due out on the 21st of May. The band will also be releasing their debut album, Boots Met My Face on vinyl, which comes out on Record Store Day. You can catch the band playing live this Saturday at LoveMusic in Glasgow at 5pm.
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...
t's been a while since I did one of my news round up posts, so I guess just now is as good a time as any...
Our good friends over at Glasgow Podcart celebrated their 100th podcast this week, so a big congratulations goes out Halina and all the gang. To celebrate the latest shows was recorded in 45 A Side Studios, with special guest Vic Galloway and an array of tunes including Hidden Orchestra, Salo, Wounded Knee, Craig_FS, Clean George IV, plus an exclusive new song from Julia & The Doogans, Young Fathers , PAWS, DjangoDjango and Die Hard. You can check out the show for yourself over on the Podcarts website.
Not content with hitting the century mark, the Podcart team will be having their annual Christmas party at the Captain's Rest on Sunday the 18th of December. The night which is titled as the 'Glasgow Podcart's Nightmare Before Christmas' features one hell of a noisy line up which includes As in Bear, PAWS, Citizens and Lady North. Further information on the night can be found on their Facebook page.
Way back in June, those luverly boys at Detour had another one of their now legendary 'Wee Jaunt's'. This time round the boys took over 100 folk out and about round Edinburgh to see an array of artists including MadhatMcGore, Shields Up, Stanley Odd, I Build Collapsible Mountains, Teklo, Over the Wall, Conquering Animal Sound, a story from the notorious VIC (Mr Galloway to you and I), Withered Hand, and Lady North, all in “venues” that will probably never be used as venues again. To celebrate they're are going to show a wee premiere of the best of the footage this coming Thursday (15th) at the in Electric Circus, Edinburgh. The show which will run between 6pm-7pm will be totally free to get in. Plus it also coincides with Vic Galloway's special Christmas show in the same venue, featuring Jill O'Sullivan(Sparrow and the Workshop) and Jenny Reeve(Strike the Colours), Neil Pennycook and LorcanDoherty(Meursault), James Yorkston plus a very special guest who's playing under the guise of Owl John (my guess is Withered Hand, but that's just a guess).
Remember The Social Services? Well they went and changed their name to Tall Tales. Their name might well have changed, but their songs are still ace. Next Friday night (16th) they're going to be celebrating their first release as Tall Tales, with their a double A-side single 'Windows 98/All The Things You Read To Me' with a wee shindig at The Billiard Room at the Pearce Institute in Govan, Glasgow. Entry to the evening is just £5 which also includes a copy of their handmade single, (designed by Emma from the band). Having been lucky enough to have been sent one of the singles earlier this week, I can vouch for just how pretty they are. The first 25 people through the door will get a deluxe single pack, including badges and a copy of 'Small Tales', a book of flash fiction by Martin from the band (who not only plays drums, he also writes award-winning fiction). If that wasn't enough they will also have a couple of very special guest musicians joining them on stage. If that sounds like it'd be up your street then you can find out more here.
I think that's enough rambling for one evening, I am going to finish on a high though. Here's a video of 'Real Snow', Withered Hand's Christmas song which is also his first new material in 2 years. The song is being released on Fence Records as part of an exclusive to subscribers of their new EP series, anyone who signs up before the 16th of December will receive a Xmas card with a mini-CD inside which will have 'Real Snow' on it. Talking of Fence, if you're going to see Malcolm Middleton on Thursday night, if you keep hold of your stub for the gig, then you can use it to get into the Fence Christmas Party at the CCA on the same night...
Once again my inbox is over flowing with loads of newsworthy things, which means it's time for another news roundup...
First off we have the pretty exciting news that Miaoux Miaoux has announced a very special live show at The Captain's Rest on the 23rd of November. The gig which is being put on to preview his new album, will see Julian (aka Miaoux Miaoux) playing with a full live band, plus some very special guest vocalists., including Profisee, Paul Carlin (Dananananaykroyd /American Men), Kris Ferguson (Mitchell Museum) and Anna Miles (Maple Leaves). Plus as if that wasn't enough there will also be support from the rather awesome Jonnie Common, it's £5 and tickets will only be available on the door so you'd be advised to get down nice and early.
Bloggers promoting gigs, it's a bug that seems to be spreading rapidly amongst the online Scottish blogosphere. This time round Jim from the Vinyl Villain has something pretty special up his sleeve as he's decided to commemorate the 5th Anniversary ofhis blog by promote his own gig. So on Saturday the 19th of November he's booked the Langside Halls on the south side of Glasgow and is putting on the wonderful Butcher Boy. I am pretty excited about this gig, as there are far too few gigs on the southside (if you exclude anything on the Academy that is), plus I can walk/stumble home from this one, which is all good in the hood. As if that wasn't enough, the support on the evening will come from Peenko favourite, Adam Stafford, who will be fresh from just having support the Twilight Sad on their Scottish tour. Tickets for the gig are priced at £8 and are available now using the following link.
Over in the east it's time for this years Oxjam Edinburgh Takeover, which takes place this Friday (21st) at various venues across the city, including the Cabaret Voltaire, Sneaky Pete’s, Electric Circus, The Wee Red Bar, Medina (now The Third Door) and Banshee Labyrinth with The Left Bank (formerly The Store) as the festival HQ.
The lineup includes an array of amazing local bands including: As in Bear, Black International, Citizens, Dead Boy Robotics, Endor, Esperi, FOUND, French Wives, i build collapsible mountains, Broken Records (solo), The Last Battle, Letters, Loch Awe, The Machine Room, Meursault, PAWS, Sebastian Dangerfield, Smithsonian, The Spook School, Trapped in Kansas, Trapped Mice, Vasquez and Verse Metrics.
On the day The Left Bank will be festival HQ from 3pm – 3am. It will house wristband exchange along with a few acoustic sets, merch for sale, cakes etc, a raffle and Oxfam reps. The afterparty is also happening here, featuring DJ sets from PAWS and Fresh Air with a few others TBA.
Tickets are £10 and are available from Avalanche Records, Tickets Scotland and WeGotTickets. Entry to the afterparty is free with Takeover wristbands or £4 without (£3 students). A full break down of all of the stage times can be found over on The Pop Cop.
To finish up I have a video of the new French Wives single, 'Numbers', in case you'd forgotten they have a wee single launch at Mono tonight, with support coming from Blochestra and Endor, oh and doors are at 7:30pm...
I had fully intended to post up a news post ages ago, but alas things got a wee bit on top of me so this feel by the wayside. On Thursday coming it will be the blogs third birthday, bloody hell, time really does fly in. On the blogs birthday I celebrated by giving away free badges, then in year two I put out the one and only release on Peenko Records (I Build Collapsible Mountains debut album - funnily enough he releases his debut album this week). So what does year three bring then, well boy and girls it's that moment you've not been waiting for, this week we will hopefully be launching the first ever Peenko Podcast. Having hosted a few shows on Edinburgh student radio station, Fresh Air, I got the presenting/rambling pish, so I have managed to rope in my friend Charlie, aka King Post Kitsch, to record a show with me this week. Don't say I didn't warn you, anyway that's enough about me and my plans for world domination, on with the news...
It's been a while since I put on a gig on my own, so November felt like as good a time as any to test the wasters again. This time round I've roped in old favourites Randolph's Leap to support The Shivers a New York based duo who have recently just signed up to Fence. This is the first time that the two-piece will have played in Glasgow so I am pretty stoked to be able to be putting on their first show in my fair city. If you haven't heard of them before then I would thoroughly recommend that you check out their latest album, 'More' it's one the most addictive albums I have heard this year. Completing the bill I have Glasgow outfit Where We Lay Our Heads, a band that I have been a big fan of for ages now. I kept missing their live dates, so I thought that this was the best chance for me to see them live. I am still sorting out ticket details and the like, I'll tell you more a bit closer to the date.
Talking of other gigs that we have on, today sees the release of The Moth & The Mirror album on our wee label Olive Grove. To celebrate we've got two dates lined up in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the band will be hitting up Stereo this Wednesday (12th), before appearing at the Cabaret Voltaire in the capital this Sunday (16th). Open Swimmer support on both dates, with Rick Redbeard also doing the honours in Glasgow and Endor will be playing an acoustic set in Edinburgh. In addition to all of this the band are also going to be playing an acoustic set at 1pm in Fopp on Union Street in Glasgow on Sunday the 16th. I should hopefully have a lot more from the band on the blog later this week, I may go a little OTT - you have been warned. Oh and you should also check out their ever so pretty new homepage. For now though you can stream the album below, then go spend your pennies if you like it...
Peenko favourites the French Wives have spent the summer busily crafting their debut album with influential producer Tony Doogan. Their forthcoming long player is due out in the new year on the Electric Honey label, and ahead of it's release they're just about to put out new single, Numbers on October 24th. To celebrate the singles release they're having a launch night for it at Mono in Glasgow on Thursday the 20th of October, with support from Blochestra and Endor. Tickets for the gig can be pre-ordered via the bands new website now, plus you can stream the new single below.
What with the absence of the Music Like A Vitamin gigs this year, things with the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival have been pretty quiet on the music front without, but there's still quite a lot of interesting things going on. Two of the more interesting gigs that might be of interest are Rod Jones, James Yorkstone and Withered Hand mentored some young musicians, helping them with writing and recording, culminating in a live gig at Nobles Bar, Leith, on Thursday 20th Oct. Then on Monday the 24th of October, composer Malcolm Lindsay will perform songs that he wrote with some local kids, which will be performed by a classical string quartet for the first time at Platform, Glasgow, at 12.30pm. The project which was commissioned by Alun Woodward (Chemikal Underground/Delgados) which apparently saw the kids using special music software which helps people write music using colours/shapes rather than traditional notation - sounds complicated to me!
Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings for one post, I will leave you a couple of videos, the first is of James Mackenzie playing live at Cafferys in Inverness, then we have a new video from indie popsters, Be Like Pablo...
This week we welcomed back one of our favourite local bands, we're only afraid of NYC, if you missed this weeks Friday Freebies then make sure you download their new single 'Walls'. The band are playing at King Tuts tonight as part of this years RocknRoll Damnation 2011 along with Lightguides and Pareto.
The ferocious beings that are The John Knox Sex Club return with their second album, Raise Ravens, tomorrow (Monday 29th August). Following up last years excellent, 'Blud Rins Cauld', was never going to be an easy task, but I reckon their latest offering is a marked step forward for one of Scotland's most exciting bands. To celebrate the albums release The John Knox Sex Club are having a launch night in Stereo, tonight (28/8/11) followed by two dates in northern England: Thursday 1st September, Puzzle Inn, Sowerby Bridge, then on Friday 2nd September at Mad Ferret in Preston. The album is available on CD and to download directly from the band through their Bandcamp page. Check back in tomorrow when I'll have a special wee feature about the album.
Bloody hell, it's a busy old night in Glasgow tonight if The John Knox Sex Club or we're only afraid of NYC aren't your cup of tea, then perhaps Duckstock 2"Unplucked" at the Flying Duck might be for you. Our very own Randolph's Leap are on about half ten, alongside The Apples of Energy, Cheer, Conner mcCann, Dave Roy, The Dirt, Dr Mango and the Chickpeas, Grope Town (the quiet set), The Plimptons, The Paraffins and Leap Small Scale Collisions. It's only £3 to get in and it all kicks off at 2pm through until the wee hours of the morning.
I guess every band one day dreams of heading out to Austin to play at SXSW, but fuck me does it take a lot of hard work and is it really all worth it. Well you can find out more about what it takes to play at South By, as the Creative Scotland are hosting a SXSW & MIDEM Training Event at the ABC in Glasgow on Tuesday 30th August. The event will see a number of panellists offering up their tuppence about their experiences of SXSW, to be honest with you the best thing about these kind of events is that it gives you the opportunity to 'network' with folk that you wouldn't normally get access too. In addition to this they've roped in Kid Canaveral to talk about their experiences from last years festival. Seeing as they did all of it off their own back, they should be able to provide any of you unsigned artists with a much greater incite into the barriers that they faced and the benefits they got from going to SXSW. The event kicks off at 7:15, you can find further information on the evening on Creative Scotland's website.
Holy fuck a McMoly, time certainly does fly in doesn't! Was it really way back in May that we announced that myself and Ayetunes were going to putting on another one of our 'leg-end-ary' gigs together. I guess that time has a certain way of creeping up on you, as in less than a week away we'll be taking over Stereo for our fourth 'vs' gig and desperately pretending that we're proper promoters and that we know what we're doing (usually the bands see us right!).
In case you'd forgotten the line up it looks something like this Mondegreen, Miaoux Miaoux, PAWS and Adam Stafford - whose been daft enough to let us use this as his album launch.
If you haven't heard any of the bands before, then trust me they're all fucking great, but then again I would think that as we chose them.
I will warn you in advance there will be more shameless plugging of the gig throughout this week, so don't start moaning if I start to repeat myself, I'm just a little bit excited that's all.
If you get the chance make sure you tune into Vic Galloway's Radio Scotland show tomorrow night as Adam Stafford is in doing a wee session, which I am really looking forward to.
If you fancy booking your tickets in advance then you can buy them online here or you could always head down to Ticket Scotland as I think they had a handful left. Either way it'd be great to see some of you coming along for what should be a great night of music, plus there may also be sweets and hugs, but don't let that put you off.
Another gig that I am involved with is the launch of The Moth & The Mirror's first single on Olive Grove Records, 'Germany'. The gig is on Friday the 2nd of September, so get it noted in your diary/smart phone. It's only £5 plus there will be three cracking support bands, Amber Wilson, Blood Blood and I Build Collapsible Mountains. The Moth & The Mirror's song 'Lights in the sky' is still available to download for free on their Bandcamp page.
On Friday coming, Song By Toad is putting on the second of his 'Toad at the Circus' gigs at the funnily enough the Electric Circus in Edinburgh. This week he has our very own Randolph's Leap, Amber Wilson and Matthew Healy (from Awe), it's only £5 to get in and it all kicks off at half seven. Without wanting to sound like I am bowing smoke up their arse, Randolph's Leap now have the added bonus of having a brass section which makes them even more enjoyable to watch, yeah I know what you're thinking 'is that really possible?', but trust me it's fucking awesome, or at least it was at Wickerman. Plus Amber and Matthew are both fucking great, if we weren't doing AvP the next day I would have gone for this for certain (I'm using my one weekly pass for out gig). Aye so go, it will be dead good...
If you can't make it to our AvP gig next Saturday (20th) and you reside in Edinburgh, then you might want to get yourself along to Pilrig Church, where Oxjam are putting on one of their takeover gigs featuring The Last Battle, Sebastian Dangerfield and Letters. Tickets for the gig are available from online here or you could get your backside down to Avalanche and get them for just £5, otherwise it's £7 on the door, plus it's BYOB, nice. Further information can be found on Facebook.
45/R are putting a cracking wee gig on Sunday the 28th of August at the Captain's Rest in Glasgow, featuring Dundee legends Avast! (feat. members of Stapleton) who have reformed and are playing Glasgow for the first time in many many years. Support on the evening comes from the excellent Happy Particles and GRNR (Gav from Findo Gask's solo project). Tickets for the gig can be bought in advance via the following link.
On the Friday the 26th, Pin Up Nights have James and Doc from the Twilight Sad joining them on the decks at the Flying Duck. Plus there will also be live sets from electronic act Machines in Heaven, "purveyor of beats" Oh You Dancer and the pleasingly Sonic Youth-sound-a-likes Ev.
One of my favourite local bands, French Wives have been busy in the studio recording their debut album, which is due out on Electric Honey Records next year. They've just completed tracking the album, so to celebrate they're putting on an intimate wee gig in Glasgow at the 13th Note on the 4th of September. Support on the evening comes from Shields from Newcastle and Perthshire outift, Poor Things. Tickets are for the gig are only £5 on the door, you might want to make sure you get down nice and early to this one as it should be pretty rammed.
After giving away new song 'Act On Impulse', We Were Promised Jetpacks have provided us with another wee taster of what to expect from their forthcoming album, by posting up their new single 'Medicine' to stream on Souncloud. The band are also going to be playing live on Ally McCrae's BBC Introducing show on Radio 1 live from The Bongo Club in Edinburgh on September 4th. Joining them on the evening will be Profisee, Bwani Junction and Hostage, there were some free tickets for the gig up for grabs here, but I am guessing that by the time that this goes up they'll be well gone.
Right we'll wrap this wee ramble up and leave you with this odd as fuck video from Lady North, who's split single with PAWS came out on Monday there through Gerry Loves Records
I know I said I was going to take a break from blogging for a few weeks, however, as my inbox almost feels like it's about to burst with emails here's some news and gubbins for you all...
I must admit that I am a wee bit jealous of Gerry Loves Records, in the past 12 months or so they have released some of the most exciting new music that Scotland has to offer. Now with their fifth release they've made me doubly jealous as they're just about to release a split 7” on the 8th of August, featuring PAWS and Lady North. Arguably two of the hottest bands in Scotland at the moment, the boys certainly know their stuff, you can stream two of the singles below.
To celebrate the split release PAWS and Lady North are heading out on tour, they're in Aberdeen's Dirty Hearts Club, Snafu, on Thursday 28 July with support from Devils Disco, followed by an appearance at Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh on Monday 1st August, before finishing up at the Captain’s Rest in Glasgow on the 3rd of August, with support from Hairy AREA ( Side project featuring members of We Were Promised Jetpacks, Lady North, Endor & Sebastian Dangerfield).
If you can't make it along to any of these shows, then you can pre-order the split release via Gerry Loves Bandcamp page, it's only £4 and it would be money well spent.
Edinburgh DIY promoters, Tracer Trails are putting on their fourth Retreat Festival over the weekend of August 27th-28th 2011 at Pilrig St Paul's in Leith. So far they've confirmed Broken Records, Jesus h Foxx, Meursault, The Scottish Enlightenment, Skeleton Bob, The Leg, Rob St John, The Pineapple Chunks, Two Wings, eagleowl, ballboy and FOUND, with more to be announced over the coming weeks. Tickets for the gig are on sale now, day tickets are £7 and weekend tickets are £12, you can buy them here.
I quite like this new trend of bloggers putting on gigs, not just because it makes me and Jim look trend setters (we're not Song By Toad has been doing them for ages), but more because it's interesting to see others stepping out of their comfort zones and putting on some excellent bills. The most recent of the blogging community to take this bold step are my friends Stuart and Chris, who run The Tidal Wave of Indifference and Favourite Son respectively.
I have already had one of them asking me for advice, which in all honesty felt pretty odd as I hardly feel like an expert in putting on gigs, I have been winging it since day one. Then again I guess that everyone's blags these kind of things, most folk just aren't stupid enough to admit it.
The Tidal Wave of Indifference gig is of particular interest to me as he's got Star Wheel Press, a band who I have heard a lot of good things about, but still haven't listened to. Apparently they've got the best selling album this year in Avalanche Records, seeing as last year Kid Canaveral were their biggest seller, I have a feeling they might well be up my street. On top of that he has Peenko favourites, French Wives, who were on top form at this years Wickerman Festival, plus there's also the excellent Douglas Firs and Lost Telegrams. Personally it's the kind of gig that might well persuade me to travel through to Edinburgh for the night. Tickets for the gig are on sale in advance here, if you buy one then I am sure you will be making a certain young gentleman that little bit less stressed.
Our other blogging companion Chris who runs Favourite Son is also stepping up to the plate with his first ever gig which takes place next month at Pivo Pivo in Glasgow. Featuring Tape Records very own Dead Boy Robotics, Any Color Black and Blank Canvas. If you're quick off the mark then you can win yourself a pair of tickets to the gig, details and the like can be found here.
Right, that's emptied out some of the important stuff in my inbox, now I just have to work out what to do with all of these free download links... oh and there's a Wickerman review to be written (if I can remember any of it that is).
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.
