Friday Freebies

 

Admiral Fallow
If you're headed off to the ABC tonight to see Admiral Fallow then you're in for a treat, I only know this as I saw them play a last minute intimate show in Glasgow last night. As a wee teaser, the band have me their new song 'Beetle In The Box' free to download, a corking wee tune it is too. You can download yourself a copy for free in exchange for your email address here.

Ajimal 
I had fully intended to include this link in last weeks Freebies, but for one reason or another it go overlooked. My bad, I know. Having heard of Ajimal plenty of times but not actually witnessed him live, I was genuinely taken aback by how good he was at Tuts last week. If you like your Jeff Buckley then you really need to check this guy out, his SoundCloud is full of free goodies that come highly recommended.

New Town Triptych
Glasgow folk pop outfit, New Town Triptych have just made their new single Never Again / Simple, available on Bandcamp on a pay what you want basis. If you're looking for some chilled out tunes for this weekend, then this might just be the thing for you.

Shambles Miller
Seeing as he ha just sold the last physical copy of his EP "Shambles Sails the Clockwork Sea", Glasgow troubadour, Shambles Miller has decided to make both of his EPs available on a name-your-own-price basis on his Bandcamp. Whether or not your willing to spend some pennies is your call!

Bellow Below
Innovative new Glasgow label, Overlook Records continue to build upon an already impressive roster, in the past week they've announced that they'll be releasing As In Bear's debut EP this summer. Plus they've also just welcomed Ayrshire rock outfit, Bellow Below to the family. You can get yourself acquainted with the band by downloading a whole load of free tunes from SoundCloud.

Queen Jane 
Cumbernauld four piece, Queen Jane have made their Confetti EP available as a free download on Bandcamp. If you like what you hear then you can catch them at the 13th Note on the 12th of February with Campfires in Winter and Kith & Kin.

Always Read The Label
Glasgow three piece, Always Read The Label  are giving away their new single 'Forsaking All Others / Promises' for nowt on their Bandcamp page.I must admit it's not really my cup of tea, but i you like your metal/post-hardcore mixed with a touch of melodic rock then this might just be for you.

Tanera Heights
Another three piece from Glasgow who are giving away some free tunes are indie pop starlets, Tanera Heights, who have posted their second E.P,  The Arrow's in Flight up on Mediafire.

Friday Freebies

PAWS
Ah PAWS, I fucking love PAWS. They're noisy as fuck, they do what they want and they have great tunes to boot. They have a demo called 'How Can I Depend On You?', it's on SoundCloud, it's free and you should download it.

The Little Kicks
Aberdeen's finest, The Little Kicks are all set release their self-titled, second album this coming Monday. As a wee teaser of what to expect they've posted up their song 'Call Of Youth' for free download on Bandcamp.

Hear Glasgow
Glasgow Youth Music Forum, Hear Glasgow are hosting a series of gigs on Thursday nights at George Square during December between 6 to 9pm featuring and array of local talent including Open Swimmer, Bear Bones, Miaoux Miaoux, A Band Called Quinn, Shambles Miller andThe Seventeenth Century. To celebrate the gigs they're giving away a free sampler on SoundCloud of some festive tunes from some of the bands playing at the events. Further information on the gigs can be found here.

Armbands For Eskimos
I have done some hunting online, but I really can't tell you much about Armbands For Eskimos, I think they might have something to do with the band Ambulances, but I am really just basing that on the fact that they sound a wee bit similar and that they follow them on Twitter. What I do know for sure is that they have a song called 'Prayer For The Lost' up for free download on Bandcamp and that it's also rather good.

Pulco
Again I don't know too much about this band, aside from the fact that I like the tunes. Bandcamp tells me they're a Welsh lo-fi outfit and that their Sketchbook Season EP is free to download. If they were Scottish I'd be all over this like a rash, which I guess just goes to show what a blinkered twat I really am.

Hipster Death Squad
Now how could I not post something by a band with a name that good. Seriously even if the songs were shit I would have to have posted something. Thankfully the songs aren't shit, they're pretty fucking awesome actually. They're also free to download. Nice.

Matt Norris & the Moon
One of the problems that I find with doing this post every week is that sometimes I forget whether or not I have posted some of these links before. Then again I guess somethings are worth repeating. Edinburgh outfit, Matt Norris & the Moon are one such band, they have a song called 'Volume Original First Light Of Day' which sounds a bit Mumford & Sons-ish, so if that's yer bag, then you'll probably dig this.

Shambles Miller
Glagsow's favourite lo-fi a folky-punkster, Shambles Miller has posted another one of his tunes up for free download. This new effort has been describes as being "a protest song about the protest song, in support of the occupy movement", whatever that might mean. Download 'For the Would-be Woody Guthrie' for free here.

monster island.
In terms of listening to non-Scottish music, 6Music aside, I really only hear new music from two other sources, The Waiting Room and Cloud Sounds. If you haven't checked these shows out get on it kids, they're braw. Ted from Cloud Sounds always amuses the fuck out of me, he knows he's funny and he even makes himself laugh, which I dig. He's also got a shit hot taste in music, and no I am not just saying that as he plays our stuff. He's introduced me to a lot of great stuff, which would include monster island. They have an album called 'cathedral steps' which is free to download on Bandcamp.

The Dodos
There was a time when I was very much down with the kids, almost hipster-ish (without the dress sense), I was very much on the pulse. Nowadays I have no fucking clue what's cool and what's not and I kind of like it that way. I guess that's just part of getting older. Back when I was 'with it', The Dodos were one of those kind of bands, I doubt that I'd ever find myself going back to listen to their older albums, but hey there was a time when they meant something to me. I guess that there must be some folk out there who still like them, so they might be interested to learn that the duo are offering up their new song "So Cold," in exchange for your email address.

The Spook School
Edinburgh four piece, The Spook School, have just posted up a new home recorded demo called 'Are You Who You Think You Are?' for free download on their Bandcamp page.

Laura Marling
From the bits and bobs that I have hear from the new Laura Marling album, it sounds pretty good. It's one of these albums that I keep meaning to check out, but never do. My loss I guess. If you haven't already heard it and want a taster, Amazon are giving away a free download of her song 'I Was Just A Card' here.

Friday Freebies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday Freebies

The Moth and The Mirror
In case you missed our wee announcement at the start of the week, our label Olive Grove Records have added another band to the family. They're called The Moth & The Mirror and they're fucking great, we wouldn't have worked with them if they weren't. To celebrate the joining Team Olive Grove they're giving away a free download of their track 'Lights in the Sky' via their Bandcamp, I hope you'll agree it's great wee tune.

Martin John Henry
In a few months time the former De Rosa frontman is set to release his debut album, something I have been pretty excited about for a while now. In fact I bumped into Martin backstage at the Wickerman Festival were he was down helping his former band mate Chris, run the Solus Tent. I spent the majority of the weekend pestering Martin to play me some songs, then at the last minute he had to step in to play some songs as Rachel Sermanni was running late. I of course missed this performance as I was busy fannying about elsewhere, I then spent the remainder of the weekend moaning at Martin, for which I should really apologise. I am just a bit of an over excited kid some times, thankfully though he's going to be playing some shows soon and hopefully we'll get him in to record a Peenko Session at some point. Anyway, enough of my inane ramblings, on with the freebie, you can download his new 'First Light' which is taken from his forthcoming album "The Other Half of Eveything", for free on his Bandcamp page. It's a great fucking song, if this is the standard of the album then boy are we in for a treat.

Adam Stafford (remixed by Miaoux Miaoux)
I haven't done any shameless plugging for the forthcoming Ayetunes vs Peenko gig (two weeks tomorrow), so it's pretty fucking ace when two of the artists playing decide to work together. I have been banging on for ages how fucking great Adam's forthcoming album, Build a Harbour Immediately, is. That's because it is fucking great, trust me kids would I lie to you (I probably would, but not in this instance). Anyway in anticipation of the albums release Miaoux Miaoux
has done a wee remix of Adam Stafford's Shot-down You Summer Wannabes , which you can find on the b-side of his new single Fire & Theft, which you can download for free from Wise Blood Industries.

Seafieldroad
I really meant to mention this in my last freebies, but due to an overload of links I stupidly over looked it. As you might already know, I really liked the Edinburgh outfit, Seafieldroad's first album, There Are No Maps For This Part Of The City. With their sophomore album due out in November, they really could come up with the last great album of 2011, if their new single 'Cramond Island Causeway' is anything to go by, then we should be in for a treat. The single is available to download for free on their Bandcamp page, plus it also includes a cover of Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun which you might remember I posted a few weeks back.

Rod Jones
Seeing as Idlewild are taking a bit of a hiatus, the two Rod's are both off following their own solo projects, Roddy is off doing his folky stuff and Rod Jones is continuing to rock out with his backing band 'the Birthday Suit'. If you head over to The Skinny magazine's website you will find their first single free to download, ain't that nice of them.

T Break
I didn't just forget to post about Seafieldroad last week, I also completely forgot to mention that there are a whole load of free downloads up for grabs from the bands that played on this years T Break stage at T in the Park. You can stream the full sets and download one live track from each of the bands that played, including songs from Aerials Up, Cancel the Astronauts, Lady North and PAWS. Get downloading here.

Shambles Miller
My favourite Scottish troubadour, Shambles Miller has been busy writing great wee pop tunes again, this time round he's written a song about how the the end of the world, might be a good excuse to tell a girl you like how you feel. Appropriately enough the song's called Rapture and you can nab it for free on his Soundcloud.

Scottish Fiction
It honestly feels as if at the the moment a new Scottish music blog crops up every week, most of them soon lose interest when nobody pays attention to them (much is the way of the blogger). One of the more interesting sites to have started up is by a guy who goes under the guise of Scottish Fiction (an Idlewild pun I presume), he also runs a weekly radio show, so he does seem to know his stuff. Anyway, following in the footsteps of wur pal Kowalskiy, he too has taken up the challenge of posting a free monthly EP. To start him off he's roped in Michael Cassidy, Campfires in Winter, Night Noise Team and Adam Holmes And The Embers. You can download the EP for free here.

Good Weather For An Airstrike
Scottish experimental/post-classical outfit, Good Weather For An Airstrike, released their new album 'A Summer' just last month. As a wee taster of what to expect you can download their track The Beginning Of The Rest Of Our Lives (Revisited) for free on their Bandcamp.

Negotiations. & LA MORENA
I have joked in the past about Matthew from Loch Awe pretty much being featured every week in Friday Freebies, I actually was only jesting, however, he seems to have taken me up on this challenge as once again he's been off recording yet another new project. His latest outfit go under the name of Negotiations and you can download their free EP here.

Scrap Brain
Edinburgh glitzs-grungers, Scrap Brain have not only made a cracking wee video for their song Take It, they're also very kindly giving away the song for free on their Bandcamp page.

Radio Trees
I actually meant to include this last week, but there was a bit of an overload of free tunes to catch up with so I managed to over look it. Zoey Van Goey frontman and sometime accordion player for Aidan Moffat, The Trembling Bells and Lord Cutglass, Michael John McCarthy has posted up a free download of his one-man project Radio Trees.

Friday Freebies

I know that I said that I wouldn't be doing a Freebies this week, but seeing as I stumbled across a few early on in the week I thought it would be better to post something shorter as opposed to nothing at all.

Miaoux Miaoux
You'll have to be quick off the mark with this freebie as it went up last Friday and is only supposed to be available for one week. In anticipation of his much anticipated second album, Julian Corrie aka Miaoux Miaoux, has made his debut album 'Rainbow Bubbles' free to download on his Bandcamp. Don't dilly dally with this one as it won't be up for very much longer.

Song By Toad Records
My blogger mate, Matthew has made a cracking wee sampler of all of his artists available to download for free. Pretty fucking awesome it is too, I must admit that some of the artists are still pretty new to me but so far I have been blown away by quite how good it all is. If you fancy getting your grubby paws on some great tunes from folk like Meursault, Inspector Tapehead, Kind Post Kitsch and Yusuf Azak, plus many more, then all you need to do is follow this link.

Sons & Daughters
After having disappeared for what seems like forever, Sons & Daughter have just announced that they're returning with a new album in June. A welcome return indeed, in anticipation of the album they've made their new song Silver Spell available to download for free to download on Soundcloud. Produced by JD Twitch of Optimo fame, if this song is anything to go by then the band seem to be taking a much darker and minimalistic route with their sound.

Laeto
The legendary Dundonian quartet have made their eleven year old debut album, 'Make Us Mild' available to download for free on their Bandcamp page. Be quick mind as they only have a limited number of downloads left and you really don't want to be missing out on this one.

Shambles Miller
Glasgow troubadour, Shambles Miller has just posted up a live recording of his new song 'Alice's 99 Shortest Problems' which was recorded at live at Glasgow's monthly event 'Words per Minute' in the Arches.

Vdvbotsex I am still of the opinion that John B Mckenna's outfit Monoganon have released one of the finest album of this year. So I must admit that I was pretty excited to find out that he's just released another album under the guise of Vdvbotsex, I've not listened back to it yet so I can't really give you my opinion on it. For now all of that I can say for certain is that it's free to download via Winning Sperm Party.

My Little Pony On Saturday afternoon their I spent that afternoon listening to the Waiting Room, upon which I heard this cracking wee tune called 'A Miracle' by My Little Pony. This led me to having a hunt for the band, only to discover that the song is free to download. Awesome stuff.

Eels
If you sign up to the Eels mailing list they'll very kindly send you 3 free songs from their Eels album trilogy.

Profisee I don't often feature many hip hop artists on the blog, mainly cause I know feck all about the scene. However, every time I hear some of things coming out of Scotland at the moment I am genuinely taken aback by some of the stuff I find myself liking. One such artist that has caught my ear on numerous occasions is Edinburgh MC, Profisee, his new EP 'Logan’s Run' is pretty fucking ace, that and it's also free to download through our friends over at Phuturelabs.

Smashing Pumpkins
So is Billy Corgan really going to continue to destroy all that was good about the Pumpkins or will he one day be able to rekindle those glory days. I know which option I reckon is more likely, you can make your own mind up though by downloading Lightning Strikes the latest free download from their new album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope

Cage The Elephant
Download '2024' from their latest album Thank You, Happy Birthday, for free on Amazon.

We, the Plural
Matthew Healy from Loch Awe is a busy wee bee, every week it seems as if he's treating us to a new musical venture. This week we have We, the Plural and this wee free demo.

How Garbo Died
The latest release in How Garbo Died's series of home recordings, Batch 4: Kai Su Teknon, is now available to download free from our bandcamp page here.

The Spook School
Edinburgh indie-pop outfit, The Spook School, have just made their single History​/​Hallam available to download for free on their Bandcamp page. They lead song is pretty damn catchy, I am certainly going to be keeping my ear out for this lot. If you live in Edinburgh then you can catch them live on the 10th of April at Henry's Cellar Bar.

Friday Freebies

Aye Tunes
It's sad to say, but the series of 'Ayetunes vs Peenko' gigs are going on an indefinite hiatus. I am sure you're all gutted to hear that sad news, on the plus side it means that we are now both going to be putting on shows. So you'll have even more reason to get out there and enjoy some amazing new music. Jim has already lined up his first ever Ayetunes Presents gig at Stereo on the 21st of this month, featuring Boygiranimalcolour, Kochka and Trapped Mice. If you hadn't heard of any of the bands, or you just a bit curious to hear more then you're in luck as he's posted up a free sampler from each of the artists on his Bandcamp page. If you like what you hear then you can also buy yourself a ticket at the same time, just think how happy that'd make our favourite ginger bunny.

Lorraine McCauley
The former Scots Way-Hay starlet has posted up a free download of her amazing tune 'Haunt me', which was one of my favourite songs of last year. You can find it here for free, cheers to Jim for the tip.

French Wives
This week in the 7th of their Home Fires freebies, those lovely French Wives have posted a free download of 'Welcome In The Light (Robin Dunne Remix)', don't hang about as this freebie will be gone by Monday.

The Dears
The Canadian outfit are giving away a free MP3 download of new song, "Blood" from the new album Degeneration Street in exchange for your email address.

FOUND
So the cat is out of the bag, my love for all things FOUND is out there on the old blogosphere. Just as I thought I couldn't like this lot anymore, they crop up with this free download of their take on King Creosote's classic, 'Leslie'. 'Mon the FOUND!

Darren Hayman
For the rest of this month, the former Hefner frontman is writing and recording a song a day and giving them all away for free for a couple of days on his Soundcloud page. If oyu missed any and want tt download them, then you can buy them on his Bandcamp.

The Line of Best Fit
Those clever little Best Fitters have only gone and done it again, they've drafted up their list of ones to watch in 2011 and rather cracking it is too. If you fancy checking out who they've tipped or big things this year, then you can get downloading tracks from an array of artists including Echo Lake, Prizes, Suuns and Guards (I have no idea who half of these fucking bands are, I guess I have to admit that my hipster days are well behind me now).

KEXP
The awesome Seattle radio station offers up a free daily download, so it's defo worth checking out. This week they had free tunes from The Radio Dept, Active Child and Crocodiles. Check out what else they have on offer here.

Shambles Miller
A massive congratulations goes out to wur pal, Shambles Miller who has been accepted into this years Strummerville DIY. As part of this he had to offer one of his songs as a free download, very kindly he's made “Things That Make Me Angry” from his latest EP “Shambles Sails the Clockwork Sea“ available as a free download. Downloads of his track count toward that weeks top 20 downloads chart on the site, as every download gives him a better chance of getting into the chart, so do yourself and him a favour and get downloading

Madness
I know Christmas is just a distant memory now, but it's still nice to get some presents. Those lovely Madness boys are still giving away a free download of 12 songs of Madness (plus a 13th… a brand new song!) all recorded live on their recent ‘Do Not Adjust Your Nut’ UK tour.

Arran Arctic
I liked the blurb that Arran sent me about this wee freebie, so I hope he won't be too offended if I quote him on it "I wasn't planning on releasing the new single All That I Can Do until later this month, however a rather sleepless night has provided me with all the time necessary to make the track available to download for free". Once again he's come up with the good, get downloading here.

Yuck
They might not be for me, but I know that some of you are fans of this lot. If you click this link you'll find a free download of them covering Porcelain Raft, and them returning the favour.

Monster Island
If you like the Fall, then this should probably be well up your street, it's a free download of Manchester's Monster Island's new EP 'The Green Room' which you'll find on their Bandcamp.

Kyla La Grange
This freebie comes courtesy of our good mate the Pop Cop, who this week posted his ones to watch in 2011. There are some pretty tasty choices in there, so make sure you give them the once over. Typically just after he'd posted his tips, he came across another artist that tickled his fancy. If you fancy checking out what got the 'Cop all excited you're in luck as Kyla La Grange has a free download up for grabs here.

Radiohead
I am not too sure if you are allowed to post bootlegs on Bandcamp, so this might not last too long. If you head here, then you can find yourself a free download of Radiohead live at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh, recorded way back in 2006. Once again, thanks to Jim for the tip.

Native
Indiana math rockers, Native are offering their first EP 'We Delete; Erase' for free on their Bandcamp

Star Slinger
Download for free the Manchester producers Rogue Cho Pa EP via Soundcloud

Lou Hickey
If you sign up to Ms Hickey's mailing list she'll send you various downloads over the next few months.

Geotic
Pitchfork - "When he's not making beat-screwed, effervescent electronic pop as Baths, California-basted singer/songwriter/producer upstart Will Wiesenfeld also maintains a more ambient-focused side project, the evocatively named Geotic. Yesterday, Wiesenfeld made available his latest LP as Geotic, Mend, free of charge, at the Geotic website."

Friday Freebies

The Last Battle
It's been quite a year for the Edinburgh folk act. Having garnered a bit of a buzz about them at the start of the year, they went on to sign to Scottish blogger 17 Seconds label and released one of the most critically acclaimed albums to have come out of this wee nation in 2010. To round the year off the band are setting off an a tour of the country (weather permitting/sadly they couldn't make it through to Glasgow). To celebrate their adventures the band have very kindly posted up their new single 'Natures Glorious Rage' up for you to download for free. Get stuck in boys and girls, this is awesome stuff.

White Heath
This year, White Heath are the latest band to be taken under the wing of college run label, Electric Honey. With an album due out in 2011, the band have given up a wee taster of what you can expect by posting up their track 'CG' to download for free on their Bandcamp.

Laeto
This week saw a surprise return from Dundee outfit Laeto, who have posted up their third album 'III' for free on their Bandcamp. To say that this caused a bit of a stir on the Scottish scene would be playing down somewhat, with luminaries such as Vic Galloway, The Skinny and Glasgow Podcart (who 'spaffed') all heralding their return. If you want to find out what all the fuss is about you can download the album here.

Shambles Miller
The former Fresh Meat troubadour, Shambles Miller has taken it upon himself to write a song that's only 47 seconds long, amusingly title 'The Shortest Song I've Ever Written Is The One With The Longest Title '. You can download yourself a copy here.

Euros Child
The former Gorky's Zygotic Myncinew frontman has just made his new album, Face Dripping, available to download for free on his website. Cracking stuff.

It's All Happening
Last Saturday I was out seeing Randolph's Leap supporting the Concretes, an awesome time was had and not just because I pinched most of their rider. Before the night descended into a drunken blur, Vicki from the Leap told me about a wee side project that she had been working on with her friend Alex. Being the pessimistic fucker that I am, I didn't think too much of it. That was of course until I actually heard the song that they had recorded. To say I was impressed would be a massive understatement. If you fancy hearing whether I am full of shit or not, then you can download their one and only track 'I am a golden god' for free here.

Ghost Pants
He may well be sunning it up on the other side of the pond in LA recording the new Dananana' album. But my favourite plant pot wearing drummer Paul Carling has found time to record another couple of songs for his side project, Ghost Pants. You can download it for nowt here. Also look out for a wee recording of the whole band playing live at the first ever Peenko Tea Party some time early in the new year. From what I have heard of the early recordings, it's going to be epic.

S-Type
Experimental label, Phuture Labs have just put our their third with Glasgow producer S-Type.
"It's kinda hard to describe but has a hint of Hudson Mohawke in the mix alongside some classic P-Funk stylings and lovely melodies a-go-go. 2010 electronica with huge hip hop, funk and grime influences". If that sound like it would be your cup of tea, then you can download it for free here.

Low
Right now, Low are sharing a new live EP, streaming below, or available for download it in exchange for an e-mail. Live at Eindhoven was recorded at St. Catherina Church in the Netherlands city on January 22, 2009. The band was joined by a full choir for the performance - Pitchfork

The Japanese War Effort/Dems
You can download Dems remix of The Japanese War Effort tune 'Ribbit', over on Gerry Loves Records website.

Filter Magazine
There are a number of downloads up for grabs, including tracks from Sea Wolf, Mariachi El Bronx and Amusement Parks on Fire all for free here.

How To Swim
As a wee Christmas gift, those lovely How To Swim kids have posted up their first album for free download on their Bandcamp.

French Wives
Those lovely French Wives are into the fourth week of their series of Homefires free song malarkey, this week you can download yourself a free copy of 'Deaf' here.

Viva Stereo
The Fence endorsed Glasgow outfit have posted up their new single, 'Endure the Dark, to See the Stars' for free download on their Bandcamp page.

FOUND
Another week, another freebie from those fabulous FOUND boys. What this weeks song will be I can't tell you, but as I am sure you all know already, it's bound to be a good 'un.

Joe Purdy
To celebrate the release of Joe Purdy's 12th album "This American", for the entire month of December 2010 you can download this 15 song album for FREE!

Blondie
Here's one for all you dads out there, it's Ms Harry 'n the boys with a free download of their track 'Mother' (do you see what I did there? wasn't very clever was it. Sorry)

J Mascis
The Dinosaur Jnr man has a posted up a free download of one of his acoustic tracks. Head on over to No Rock N Roll Fun where you find a link.

The Belle Hops
Handily pinched from Ayetunes advent calendar thing, we have the Belle Hops, an all girl group who play 50's and 60's sounding music. They have posted up their imaginatively titled festive tune, 'A Belle Hops Christmas Song' for nowt on their Bandcamp.

Drive By Truckers
The Americana outfit are giving away a free download of their track 'Used To Be A Cop' in exchange for your email address.

The Low Anthem
The band have just announced a UK tour for April next year, in anticipation of the tour Line of Best Fit have made their track 'Ghost Woman Blues?' available for download.

Harlan Pepper
One band that got in touch this week were Harlan Pepper, who have posted their song “Great Lakes” on their Bandcamp for free download.

Supplex The Kid
Some of you might remember that I posted some Supplex The Kid stuff in Friday Freebies a while back. Well now they're back with a new EP "The trinity test", which you can download for free here.

Hold Your Horse Is
Brighton's Hold Your Horse Is have recorded a wee cover of Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’ which you can download for nowt by signing up to their mailing list.

Radical Dads
Last one for this week, and it comes from a side project from Robbie from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. They're called Radical Dads and you can download some free MP3's here.

Weekly Round Up (03/10/10)

Monday - Skies Fell took on some Fresh Meat action
Tuesday - Sexual Objects Session for Vic, plus our good friends over at Gerry Loves told us a bit more themselves as my 8th DIY label
Wednesday - Zoobizaretta became the 35th entry into the coveted Scots Way-Hay club
Thursday - there was a wee announcement of a special gig in November (more of that below). There was also a wee interview with the lovely folk at Instinctive Racoon in my DIY series
Friday - there was some of the finest freebies in ages, including tunes from FOUND, French Wives and The Phantom Band. There were also sessions from Edwyn Collins and Citizens.
Saturday - my We've Got It Covered feature brought you Ballboy's unique take off Springsteen classic


News, gigs and any other gubbins......

In case you missed our big announcement earlier in the week, Ayetunes vs Peenko is back and what a line up we have in store for you this time. Joining us at the Classic Grand on Bonfire Night will be none other than the Seventeenth Century, Come On Gang! and I Build Collapsible Mountains. Tickets for the gig are on sale now for a very reasonable £6, you can get them through Ticket Scotland, Ticketweb and directly from my Big Cartel page, which has the added bonus of no booking fees and free postage.




As part of this years Oxjam Festival, I've managed to secure a pretty awesome lineup, gracing the stage in the name of charity will be none other than Super Adventure Club , Bronto Skylift , Carnivores and Campfires in Winter.All of this for a fiver, cannae complain. Since this is part of Oxjam all the proceeds from the gig will go directly to Oxfam. So come out, do your bit for charity and listen to a night of LOUD and AWESOME music. Tickets are £5 on the door, first come first served, so get down early!



Our good friends over at Elba Sessions celebrate their first birthday next Friday,the 8th of October. In true Elba style they've lined up an eclectic evening at their spiritual home, The Liquid Ship, featuring Cuddly Shark, Julia and The Doogans, Yusuf Azak, Jonathan Sebastian Knight (My Cousin I Bid You Farewell) and Paul McLinden (who was the first performer to grace the Elba stage). Elba blog-master Phil notes: 'Unfortunately we couldn’t ask everyone, there were quite simply too many people and we didn’t quite have it in us to organise a five day festival but we’re proud of the line up and hope that you will join us to celebrate a good year where we have met so many good people who have helped us out, whether it be a mention on their blog, sending us some music to listen to or even the odd follow friday on twitter!!' As it is a special occasion the night has moved from its usual Thursday night slot to Friday. The evening starts at 8.30pm sharp and it is free entry as always.


Tomorrow sees the relaunch of Too Many Fireworks, you might remember I featured them as part of my Scottish DIY Labels feature. The label returns with release of label owner, Neil Milton's 'Elements EP'. Recorded in Neil’s adopted home of Warsaw, the EP contains five short pieces of modern-classical music, each loosely inspired by one of the medieval elements. In August, the collection soundtracked the short film "We Sink Ships: Elements", by the now defunct art collaboration We Sink Ships, when shown at the Edinburgh Arts Festival. Check out the labels homepage for further details.


Former Fresh Meat starlets, Indian Red Lopez, continue their mini tour of Scotland this week. The Aberdeenshire 'guitars 'n' electronics outfit' are at The Greenside in Glenrothes tonight, followed by an appearance King Tuts on Tuesday (5th). In Glasgow the band will be supporting ever-rising Northamptonshire electro-popsters Fenech Soler. The band then had across to Holland for mini tour after that.

Indian Red Lopez - 'My Eyes'

Tonight in Glasgow, Perth based rock outfit The Barent's Sea finish off the last night of their tour with a gig at the Captains Rest. The band have garnered a lot of attention recently, and their high energy live set is apparently quite a sight to behold. Support comes from local acts The Darien Venture, Alburn, and Jack The Wolf. Find out more details here.


Those lovely Fence folk also used this week to officially announce the line up for this years Halloween Party. They are moving from their spiritual home of Anstruther and showing us Weegies what a party should really be like. Funnily enough it'll take place on Sunday the 31st of October at Stereo and The Old Hairdressers (directly across from Stereo) in Glasgow. Running from 2pm right through till 2am, check this for a line up; King Creosote, James Yorkston, Silver Columns, James Yuill, Lord Cut Glass, Alasdair Roberts , John MacLean (DJ) , Jo Mango, Vladimir Lad, Randolph’s Leap, John B McKenna, Jonnie Common, Gummi Bako, Pictish Trail, plus many more acts still to be announced. Tickets for the gig are £25 and you can buy them here, be quick though as if last years anything to go by this will set out very quickly.




To round things off this week here's a little taster from Shambles Miller's forthcoming EP, 'Shambles Sails the Clockwork Sea'. The EP isn't out until the 22nd of October when he'll also be having the launch night, in the Liquid Ship in Glasgow. It's free entry, so make sure you make it in your diaries kids!

Shambles Miller - Strike! by peenko

Fresh Meat Monday - Shambles Miller

Would you care to introduce yourself?

Hullo, I'm Shambles Miller. I hope you're having a nice day. Possibly even a sandwich.

How would you describe the music you make?

I make shambling folky noises. Yeah...that sounds about right.

How did you start out making music?

Well, I've been playing guitar since I was about 14, originally noodling my way around various songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I still love John Frusciante, big inspiration. I played in a few bands as a teenager, but in the last few years I got more interested in writing my own songs, eventually playing my first ever solo gig last summer. I realised that I wanted to keep doing it, and I haven't stopped since.

What process goes into the way you write songs?

I suppose I've never been one of those songwriters who has one definite process. Whilst I do spend a lot of time writing lyrics and ideas down, often a song comes out of nowhere; something sparks me off and I can't stop until it's finished. They tend not to work if I force them however, which can be frustrating. I've always loved the phrase "writing is sitting over a blank page until your head bleeds", but it rarely works that way for me.

What can people expect from your live shows?

Apart from a glimpse of one of my impressive collection of plaid shirts? I try and keep a good balance of humour and the serious stuff in my live shows, as well as fitting in some time to talk a bit of pish in between. I wear my heart on my sleeve with my music; I hope that comes through when I play live.

What are you all listening to at the moment?

Well, I've been listening to a bit of Billy Bragg recently and I just bought Mumford and Son's album"Sigh No More". Its bloody braw so it is. Also been listening to a lot of Seasick Steve, as well as some Yahweh, Second Hand Marching Band and Emily Barker, her stuff is quite lovely.

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

See? Plaid shirts and beards mostly. Hear? Apart from my rambling banter, I'm hoping to record a follow-up to my debut E.P during the summer. I'll also be gigging as much as possible, so I hope to see some of your lovely readers at a gig here and there. If they bring me a sandwich, we'll be best friends.



Shambles Miller - My Best Friend Is An Outsider (MP3)

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Out and About

There's a fair few things going on in Glasgow this week, most of which I can't make, but seeing as there's so much happening I though it'd be a good idea to post them in one handy post.

There's not much on this Monday, unless you fancy hanging out with all the neds at Stereo for the View. Actually how the fuck did the View end playing in Stereo, that just seems wrong to me. Yes, I know it's snobby as fuck, but it's just wrong, wrong, wrong.

Thankfully things pick up on Tuesday night at Sleazys, where you have dd/mm/yyyy, backed by an array of local talent which includes Galleries, Mice and the Macabre Scene (we like em a lot round these parts).

On Wednesday night The Lost Generation and Healthy Minds Collapse at Tuts. Whilst one man troubadour Shambles Miller struts his stuffdown at Pivo Pivo.

On Thursday, indie label and artist collective Antimatter debut their first Musicbox night at Universal. 'The concept of Musicbox is simple. Musically, each line up features four of the best new up and coming artists around. We operate an open mixed genre policy. Acoustic artists play side by side with electronic, folk musicians next to experimental. Each artist has been specifically chosen to compliment the rest.'
Sounds like a good idea to me, the line looks like this The Recovery Club, Engine7, Paul McLinden and Lamplighter. Out of all of them I have only heard Engine7, who's album 'Me, But Perfect' rather impressed me last year. Tickets are only £3, the evening kicks off at 8pm, further details are available on the Anitmatter website.

Friday, you have one of two options The Unwinding Hours at Stereo (reminds self that I need to get me finger oot and get a ticket for this - anyone fancy it?) or alternatively there is always the Local Natives at Tuts, which I'd be surprised if it wasn't sold out already. Can't be arsed checking.

Saturday night at the 13th Note should be a good un, Flowers in the Dustbin have a showcase of local talent lined up, including The Fire And I, The 123’s, Hitlist Youth and Foxgang. That's going to be a beast of an evening.

Finally if you want to see the week off in style then you should head down to Mono next Sunday for Burnt Island's (more on them later in the week) mini-album launch. Support on the evening comes from Aidan Moffat and Benni Hemm Hemm backed by the Second Hand Marching Band (that reminds me where's my EP?????).