Friday 3 June 2011

The Aye Tunes Birthday Bash

As I've mentioned already, I'm putting on a wee birthday gig.
Aye Tunes, the blog you are currently looking at, started up three years ago this week on June 1st 2008. Admittedly it took around a year between starting up and me actually doing anything, but we'll gloss over that part.
It is also my birthday on June 18th. I'll be a good bit older than the blog.
On the 17th, two weeks today, the birthday gig takes place at The Flying Duck in Glasgow The Flying Duck is a wee bit hidden, but once you work out where it is it is a doddle to find. It is on Renfield Street, just across from the big Cineworld, there's a map and stuff on the website.

Playing at the gig are The Big Nowhere, Black International and Verse Metrics. On the off chance you don't know the bands don't worry, I'll be introducing them to you between now and the gig here. You can get a head start by reading the interview Black International did a with me last November, or indeed the track by track guide to their debut album In Debt.

If you are into that kind of thing you can let me know you are coming on Facebook.

Everyone is invite to come along and partake in some good music, some beverages, and watching me stress out. There's a catch though, I'm going to make you pay for the pleasure. Entry is £3, which isn't too shabby for three bands.
Sorry, but to try and minimise the chances of my head exploding I need to try and not make it both the most stressful and the most expensive birthday I've had!



Wednesday 1 June 2011

FOUND - Anti Climb Paint

FOUND release the second single from their really quite awesome Factorycraft album next week, on June 6th.
Here's the video for Anti Climb Paint:


You may have noticed that the video depicts the making of some confectionery records. The reasoning behind this is that the single will be released on a playable, edible 7". I'm not sure yet if this is genius or insanity, so we'll just accept it, call it insane genius, and move on.

To celebrate the release of the single there's a pair of competitions running, one to win a copy of the 7", another to win tickets to a special gig at the Fisher & Donaldson bakery in Cupar, Fife, where the video was filmed. To enter scoot on over here, where you can also download a free remix of the single by S-Type.

Speaking of remixes, there are more of them too, handily embedded to listen to below.

Anti Climb Paint is released on June 6th by Chemikal Underground Records.
Chemikal Underground: Website - Facebook - Shop



Monday 30 May 2011

News & Bits - 30th May

Hello, you are looking well. Thanks for stopping by.
Here's your usual slightly shambolic run down of new releases, and other stuff.
I may have gone a wee bit overboard with the buy links this week, let me know if they annoy you and I'll trim them back a bit next week. Until then I'm pretty broke, so could use the couple of pennies I earn if anyone buys stuff through them.

New Releases:
Laki Mera - The Proximity Effect (album). Buy from Amazon (CD/Download), HMV (CD/Download), iTunes.
The Lava Experiments - Love, Lust & Loss (EP). Buy from iTunes, CD from The Lava Experiments.
Mummy Short Arms - Cigarette Smuggling (single). Buy from iTunes.
Poor Things - Innocence/18 (single). Buy from Bandcamp. (Aye Tunes Review)
Spare Snare - I Am God (single). Buy from iTunes.
Sparrow and the Workshop - Spitting Daggers (album). Buy from Amazon (CD/Download), HMV (CD), iTunes.
United Fruit - Fault Lines (album). Buy from Amazon (CD/Download), HMV (CD), iTunes. The album isn't available just yet on Bandcamp/Bigcartel , but should be soon. (Aye Tunes Review)

Like Me:
You may or may not have noticed, but there's a wee clicky thing at the bottom of posts which allow you to like them on Facebook. Feel free to express your enjoyment of Aye Tunes in the laziest way possible and be the envy of all your friends with your cool hip reading choices all at once. You can also find at Aye Tunes Facebook page here, where I occasionally talk rubbish.

Buy Things From Me:
Tickets are available for all the upcoming Aye Tunes gigs right here. Or just send me an email saying you want a ticket and I'll sort you out.
What gigs are those, you say? I really hope you don't say that again in a few weeks, or it'll mean I haven't done a very good job of promoting them, but the gigs would be these:

Friday 17th June - Aye Tunes Birthday Bash.

Friday July 1st - Aye Tunes Presents...

Saturday August 20th - Aye Tunes Vs Peenko 4: The Revenge

Stuff!
Lots of stuff on Bandcamp from Asthmatic Astronaut, including the first Church of When the Shit Hits the Fan EP.
Ben TD, probably better known these days as the man behind Open Swimmer, has his old album Tiny Movements available quite cheap on Bandcamp.
Dalyrimple Goes Wrong recorded his first EP, For Shut Eyes, in five days in a flat in Edinburgh.You can get it for free on Bandcamp.
Dave Hughes hasn't been in our news round-up for a couple of weeks, but he's back aggain now with the latest in his Something Old Something New series. Grab #3 from Bandcamp.
Also elbowing his way back in to the news is Guanoman, with more free stuff from his archives going up on Bandcamp.
El Dog released debut album The Lamps of Terrahead way back in 2009. If you missed it before then you can get a free download or right cheap CD from Bandcamp. I suggest you do.
Ginger, quite possibly my favourite songwriter in recent memory, is giving away a free download of his Potatoes And You live album. Go get it from Bandcamp.
If, like me, you hadn't really heard of Discopolis until they were announced for the TBreak stage this year then head over to their Soundcloud page to have a listen to them. I was pleasantly surprised, and kicking myself I didn't know about them already.
After what feels like a long time away old friends We're Only Away From NYC have popped up with a new song and video, which you can watch and hear here.
Cities and Skylines are giving away their new single for free in exchange for your email address here.
LightGuides have a free single too. Download Old Bucket Seats from their website, but be quick, it won't be available for long.

Win Win Win:
Just a reminder about the Ladytron competition I'm currently running to win a pair of tickets to see them in Glasgow. Find the competition here.



Sunday 29 May 2011

This Week's Gigs: 30th May - 5th June

Well, that was a busy weekend. Over Friday and Saturday I saw eight bands, did a bit of DJing, got a bit (for bit read far) too drunk, spent too much money, was slapped by a random drunk lassie (it wasn't my fault, she thought I was someone else) and had two trips back to Paisley on the N9 that were both awful. So, what do we have to look forward to this week? Lots. Saturday in particular seems to have been designed to force tough choices.

Monday:

Tuesday:
KAN, The Sanna, Kristan Harvey. Stereo. (Tickets - enter discount code glow_arts2011 to save a few quid)
Laki Mera, GRNR. The Admiral. Free.
Beerjacket, Reverieme. Bloc. Free.
Tangles. Mono. Free.
Good news for the Glaswegian freeloaders.

Wednesday:

Thursday:
Trapped In Kansas are also playing Inverness, Falkirk and Aberdeen over the rest of the week. Swing by their website for all the details.
This is one of Peenko's Tea Party gigs/sessions. Spaces are strictly limited, so if you want to go you'll probably want to buy a ticket.
Take A Worm For A Walk Week, The Gummy Stumps, No Comet. Captain's Rest.

Friday:
This is very close to selling out, so act fast if you want a ticket.
Tonight and tomorrow Over The Wall bring their exhausting sounding 80 day gig adventure to a close. They have nice posters.
Julian Lynch, Ducktails, Big Trouble. Captain's Rest.

Saturday:
Electric Honey Showcase: White Heath, French Wives, Miniature Dinosaurs, Woodenbox With a Fistful of Fivers. Oran Mor. (Tickets)
See, I told you the posters are nice.
Detour: FOUND + guests. Electric Circus. (Tickets)
Detour are taking their Wee Jaunt through to Edinburgh for the day. Spaces on the jaunt are all gone, but you can still go to the gig afterwards.
The Lava Experiments, Organs of Love, Ursula Minor. Captain's Rest.
Launch gig for the new Lava Experiments EP, Love Lust and Loss.
Song of Return album launch.
Strawberry Ocean Sea, Death By Misadventure, Tijuana Bibles. The Arches. (Tickets)

Sunday: