French WIves - Welcome, in the light

Oh look, Saturday night, The X Factor is on. Would you rather here something decent instead of some squealing harpies doing karaoke? You would? You are as big a snob as I am then, well done you. But I digress...

On Monday one of our favourites bands, French Wives, will be giving a new, previously unavailable song away for absolutely nothing, but before that they are giving Aye Tunes readers a chance to get a little preview. Welcome, in the light is available to stream below, then on Monday swing by the French Wives MySpace to find out how you can get your free download.

French Wives play Stereo in Glasgow on October 2nd. If the gig is anywhere near as good as the last time I saw them, back in July at King Tut's, it'll be pretty special, so try and get yourself along. Tickets are available here.

French Wives: MySpace - Shop

Hazy Recollections 4 - This Sunday

Looking for something to fill your Sunday afternoon? Something gig shaped? Well, why not have a look at the next Hazy Recollections gig then?

Hazy 4 takes place in Stereo on September 26th, which is tomorrow, unless you read this later in which case you've maybe missed it already, from 2pm until 6.

Joining the regular host Findlay Napier and The Bar Room Mountaineers are Damon Valentine, Calum MacCrimmon and the excellent Jo Mango, all of which adds up to a cracking wee afternoon of music.

But that's not all! There's a top secret special guest lined up too. I'm not allowed to say who it is, if I did I'd be making a Rod for my own back, but I hear it is a gentleman with a lot of Hart.

If you hurry you can pick up an advance ticket here, otherwise it'll be £6 on the door.

Gig Preview: The Unwinding Hours - The Twilight Sad - RM Hubbert

Coming up in October is a gig that looks to be a little bit special.

Back in February The Unwinding Hours released their debut album, and with it made sure that the bar for the end of year "Best of 2010" lists would be set high. Now they are planning a bit of a break to work on a follow up, but not before playing a few gigs.

The Unwinding Hours - Knut

Joining The Unwinding Hours on their last Glasgow show for a while is the wonderful RM Hubbert. Not to be outdone Hubby released a pretty excellent album himself this year in First & Last. More recently both joined forces to record a cover version of Sparklehorse's Spirit Ditch. You can hear the gorgeous results below.

Rounding out the bill are special guests The Twilight Sad, who will be performing an acoustic set. Last year's Forget The Night Ahead album showed that the brilliance of their debut album was no fluke, with The Room in particular, released as a single earlier this year, standing out to me as my favourite thing they've done so far. Despite losing the services of bassist Craig Orzel in February The Twilight Sad have continued to travel the World rattling eardrums and going from strength to strength. New material is forthcoming too, with The Wrong Car EP set for release on September 27th.

The Twilight Sad - The Room (Live & Acoustic)

So yeah, like I said, a little bit special.

The gig takes places on October 17th in the Oran Mor Auditorium, with tickets available here.

The Unwinding Hours - RM Hubbert - The Twilight Sad

This Week's Gigs: 20th - 26th September

There's either less on this week than there has been recently, or no one has been telling me about their gigs. Since some weeks recently have been quite ridiculous with the number of good gigs this isn't so bad. Either way what the week lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality.

Tuesday:

Y'all Is Fantasy Island, Burnt Island, Jamie Sturrock. Captain's Rest.

A little Wiseblood Industries night. Yifi have been quiet for a while, so much so that this is their first Glasgow gig in over a year. We love Burnt Island round here, so their place is on the bill adds even more reason to get along to this one. Jamie Sturrock released a new EP on Wiseblood just recently, which you can get your hands on for free right here.

Wednesday:

Widows In Paradise: An Evening Celebrating The Songs Of Sufjan Stevens. Stereo. Tickets

I'm not personally much of a Sufjan Stevens fan, but the line up of artists playing at this make it worth a good look. There will be performances and collaborations from Open Swimmer, Washington Irving, Julia & The Doogans, The Last Battle, Randolph's Leap, Endor, Esperi, Quickbeam and more. I hear there will be cakes too.

Thursday:

Carnivores, Pacific Theatre, Penguins Kill Polar Bears. Bloc. Free.

Carnivores and Pacific Theatre launch their pretty excellent split single with a free gig in Bloc, joined by the brilliantly named Penguins Kill Polar Bears. Get down early, this should be a good one.

Darren Hayman, Gordon McIntyre (ballboy), Withered Hand. Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh.

I've got much less of a clue what is happening through in Edinburgh this week, but I do know that former Hefner frontman Darren Hayman is in town to play songs from his new album, with some excellent local support lending a hand. No hand pun intended.

Oh You Dancer launch night. The Admiral.

New club night Oh You Dancer kicks off, promising "an electro/ glitch/ 8-bit/ techno night of audio visual mayhem" with residents Daisuke joined by guests Data Rape and DJ Rambunctious. It all takes place between 11pm and 2am, and typing all that made me feel really quite old.

Friday:

Zoobiezaretta, White Heath. Captain's Rest. £2.

Zoobiezaretta finally have their album finished, and are playing a launch gig to celebrate. The album is, from the quick listen I've had to it, very good. For the Edinburgh launch gig see Saturday.

Pin Up Nights - Geek Night. The Flying Duck.

Once again it is Pin Ups time. This month's party has a geek theme, with Angelos Epithemiou from Shooting Stars as the guest DJ, and live sets from the ace BMovie Junkies, PAWS and Heart Beats.

Saturday:

Trapped In Kansas, Cryoverbillionaires, Your Neighbour The Liar. Classic Grand.

Don't know much about Cryoverbillionaires to be honest, but we like Trapped In Kansas and Your Neighbour The Liar.

Zoobiezaretta, White Heath, Loch Awe, Sebastian Dangerfield. Sneaky Pete's.

Sunday:

Slow Club Mini Fest. The Flying Duck.

Loads of good folk playing at this, visit the Facebook page linked above for all the details.

Campfires In Winter, Little Doses, Dante. Captain's Rest.