News & Bits - April 18th

As well as being a busy week for gigs (see the Gig Guide) it is also a hefty week for new releases, so those of you who are a bit skint might want to look away now. I'm skint, but I have to write this thing, so looking away isn't an option. The list of new releases also reminds me how far behind I've fallen with reviews. Oops.

New Releases:

I'll keep this brief, here's what is out this week.

Johnny Reb - The Portugal Years. Free download from Bandcamp.

Le Reno Amps - Appetite. Buy from Bandcamp, iTunes, shops.

Nevada Base - Love In My Mind single. Buy from iTunes

Panda Su - I Begin EP. Buy from iTunes. Also, help yourself to a free download of Alphabet Song from the EP here.

Pareto - Paint The Silver EP. Buy from iTunes.

Popcorn Fiend - PF/EP. Buy from Bandcamp.

The Ray Summers - Russian Tearoom. Buy from iTunes

So Many Animal Calls - Eulogy EP. Buy from Bandcamp.

St Deluxe - 10" Single. Buy in record shops, at gigs.

You Already Know - Petrol Money. Buy from Bandcamp, in shops.

Things About Words:

Valve is a new literary journal put together by a group of Strathclyde University honours students, mentored by Rodge Glass. Valve is a collection of fiction, poetry, journalism and art, and launches on June 16th. Ahead of the launch there is a showcase event taking place this Thursday at Mono in Glasgow, which promises reading, poetry, music and more. More info here.

You can find more details about Valve on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.

Words Per Minute will shortly be celebrating their first birthday! I remember going along to that first one, propping myself up in a corner, still horribly hungover from the aftermath of the first Aye Tunes Vs Peenko gig days before, not really knowing what to expect. I could claim that I was literally blown away, but that would be bad use of the word literally, so I'll leave such expressions to other blogs. I did however have a fantastic time at that, and many since. Any, to celebrate their first birthday the WPM team are inviting back some of their favourite performers of the first year, with the line up so far including Zorras, Adam Stafford, Kieran Hurley and Martin O'Connor. The birthday event takes place on May 8th at The Arches.

Bits:

Tonight's Lykke Li gig at the Arches has been postponed due to a back injury. The gig will be rescheduled.

Guanoman continues to put his stuff on Bandcamp, all on a name your price basis.

Love, Susan released their new EP a few weeks ago, which is why it is down here and not up with the new releases. You can buy Look In The Mirror direct from the band here, or from the likes of eMusic and iTunes.

Tattie Records is a new Scottish DIY record label. Rather than wait until an entire album is ready, they will be releasing two track chunks in the build up. You can find more details on their website.

Plastic Animals release an EP in July. To tide you over until then they've put a new song, Maybe Tomorrow, on Bandcamp to download for free.

Raindeer has escaped from behind the Mitchell Museum drumkit. He has set himself the task of learning and recording a cover version every two weeks. You can watch/listen to/download his take on Roy Orbison here.

I have no idea who Phil the Skinny Pigeon is, but free download The Mice Will Pay was found on my regular Bandcamp trawls, and I quite like it. Download it here.

Colly Strings have released a new single, Take a Good Look, as a free download. You can find that, and more songs, here.

Blink 182 have rescheduled their summer tour dates. As a result they will no longer be playing at T in the Park. The Strokes, Slash and others have been added to the T line-up though.

Ah, visa issues, you rear your ugly head again. After messing up a few people's plans for SXSW visa problems have now hit Mogwai, causing them to reschedule the first week of their US tour.

LightGuides have signed to Alcopop! Records. Good for them! They'll be releasing a single in May and a mini-album in the summer.

Tom Vek will be playing The Classic Grand on June 14th. Tickets go on sale on Friday here. New single "A Chore" is also available right now from iTunes.

The Obligatory Dave Hughes News:

It is probably a good thing that I really enjoy Dave Hughses music, as he consistently gives me something to mention in this column, and it is always better to pimp tings I like. Anyway, this week's Hughes News is his Something Old, Something New project. Rather than retype everything I'll just send you to Dave's site and let him explain it. The first installment is here, but not for long.