Rick Redbeard / Adam Stafford Split 7"

The men behind Gerry Loves Records have a knack for getting money out of me. Despite having a barely function record or cassette player, they've managed to get me to buy everything they've released so far, all on those formats. With their latest split single they've got my hand in my pocket looking for a fiver again.

Rick Redbeard, who you may know better from The Phantom Band, takes on his side of the vinyl with Now We're Dancing. It's quite gentle, fragile and really rather pretty. Rick's deep, warm voice is a bit like the aural equivalent of a very welcome hug.

Adam Stafford takes the other side of the single, with Vanishing Tanks. Filled with his now trademark loops of guitar and vocals, with beatboxing thrown in. Add in a storming vocal on top, and a killer hook, and you've got one of the best pop songs I've heard all year. It's hardly a secret round these parts that I'm in love with Adam's stuff, this is just another reminder why, and I'll keep mentioning it until everyone listens to me.

To celebrate the launch of the single there's a few gigs on this week:
Thursday 21st June - Henry's, Edinburgh - Adam Stafford / Rick Redbeard, support from Wounded Knee Tickets
Friday 22nd June - Captain's Rest, Glasgow - Rick Redbeard / Adam Stafford, support from Yusuf Azak. Tickets
Saturday 23rd June - Cellar 35, Aberdeen - Rick Redbeard / Adam Stafford, support from Debutant. Tickets

The single is available to buy here now. The 7" comes with a free download, which includes an extra song from each artist.



More Information: Rick Redbeard - Adam Stafford - Gerry Loves Records

33.5 - Alien Vs Predator (Not Really)

I reject your claim that I am "cheating" with this image by saying nyah nyah.

Let's stick with the only mildly homoerotic "Aye Tunes Hearts Peenko" theme a bit more today.
Much like yesterday I blamed Urusei Yatsura for this blog existing, today I blame Chemikal Underground for giving me the stupid idea to promote gigs. Chemikal Underground and beer.
"How on Earth can you blame Chemikal Underground for you being a fool?" you ask? Well, I'll tell you. It was back in January of 2010, wandering down the road for a bus after the Chemikal anniversary gig at Celtic Connections that drunken conversation with Lloyd took a turn to us both saying that we quite fancied putting on a gig at some point, with me taking the next logical leap that since neither of us knew the first thing about putting on gigs, why not team up? It seemed like a good idea at the time.

How well did it work out? Well, results were mixed. The first gig was a roaring success, with us having to turn people away at the door, and is still just about the happiest experience I've ever had. Relief, booze, and pure joy is a heady mix.

The second one was booked almost entirely while drunk, a result of me bumping into Ross, then of Little Yellow Ukuleles, now in So Many Animal Calls, in Bloc and asking if he fancied doing a gig the following month, which we then had to hurriedly arrange. Lloyd saw Randolph's Leap at GoNorth while drunk, and we got them too, and We're Only Afraid of NYC missed out on doing the first through an imminent baby arrival, so were obvious people to invite to play the second. It wasn't as successful, but was still a hoot.

In hindsight moving to a bigger venue for the third gig was a mistake. The bands were great, but not as many people turned up as we'd hoped, at least according to the person on the door, and by the end of the night the wind was out of our sails a fair bit. We'd already thought about making that our last joint gig for a while, and it was a pretty easy choice to leave it alone after that.

From there we each put on a few things of our own, and would occasionally talk about doing something else at some point. Then, opportunity! We'd both been lucky enough to hear Adam Stafford's then upcoming album Build a Harbour Immediately quite a while before release, and annoyed pretty much all of our friends by telling them that we thought it was brilliant. An idea appeared, why not ask Adam if he'll let us host the launch gig for the album? Adam agreed, we lined up a couple of our other favourites to play too, and all went well. Right up until a few days before the gig that was, when we very sadly had to lose PAWS from the line-up due to pretty awful personal circumstances. I'd still love to rope them into playing a future AVP, but now that they are all signed up with Fat Cat I suspect they might rather deal with professionals. Hiya PAWS.
Gig number four was nonetheless ace. People came! People enjoyed it! Afterwards I did one of the drunkest DJ sets of my life, which is really quite something considering some of the ones I've done.

At some point along the way we developed a curse. Little Yellow Ukuleles split up. Come On Gang! split up. Mitchell Museum went on hiatus. For a while I really feared we might break Mondegreen, but Mitchell Museum are back now, so I think we'll be OK...

Everyone was happy. Maybe sometime we'll do another, but until then keep your eyes peeled as we both have a solo attempt at gig putting on or two coming up in the next few months.

Anyway, here's all the bands that played. Click their name for more on them, click the song name for, um, a song. All these bands are ace, apart from the ones who no longer exist, who were ace.

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko - Captain's Rest, 30th April 2010
Campfires In Winter - Mortigi Tempo
Mitchell Museum - Tiger Heartbeat
Kid Canaveral - Couldn't Dance

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko II - 13th Note, 17th July 2010
Little Yellow Ukuleles - Discopants
Randolph's Leap - Squeamish
We're Only Afraid of NYC - With Bullets

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko III - Classic Grand, 5th November 2010
I Build Collapsible Mountains - Rails
Come On Gang! - Fortune Favours the Brave
The Seventeenth Century - Roses in the Park

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko IV - Stereo, 20th August 2011
Mondergreen - Slouching Digger Paper Wagon
Miaoux Miaoux - Snow
Adam Stafford - Step Up, Raise Hands

Me, Talking Rubbish

Oops, gone a bit longer between pots than I'd meant to. There's also an ominous looking submission pile that needs attention. While I attempt to do something about that, how would you like to hear some songs interspersed with me talking nonsense?

Last week I got together with my pal Allan to record a wee podcast for Insularis Records, the results of which you can hear below.

Insularis Podcast : January 2012 with Jim from AyeTunes! by Insularis Records on Mixcloud

We played ten songs, and I mainly ignored both Scottish music and new music for it, because I'm awkward like that. If you've always wanted to hear what I sound like when talking about things quite randomly, now you can.

Since recording I've done fact checking, and can add two pieces of into to things, 1 - Spiritualized have a new album imminent, which will presumably make up some of their set on their upcoming tour. 2. Kate Radley married Richard Ashcroft of The Verve.

Go buy some records from Insularis.

Best Albums of 2011: 10 - 1

IT'S THE FIIIIIIINAAAAAAAAL COUNTDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN!
Top ten Aye Tunes albums of the year time. I can stop listing things and try to reintroduce myself to society after this.
Same disclaimers as yesterday:

1. best just means my favourite, you are allowed to disagree without either of us being wrong.
2. I've not heard every blooming album released this year.

You can find a bunch of other albums I liked that didn't quite make the top twenty here, and numbers twenty to eleven here.

10. United Fruit - Fault Lines

Noisy? Check. Frantic? Check. Awesome? Double check. Fault Lines is an adrenaline rush in music form. Full review from earlier in the year here.
Buy: Bandcamp - Bigcartel

9. FOUND - Factorycraft

One of the year's more fun albums, Factorycraft saw a slimmed down FOUND take a less experimental approach to their music, thought there was that edible 7", and deliver a pile of cracking pop songs in the process. Jam packed with hooks and sing along lyrics, Factorycraft does the simple things very well, and makes the difficult things seem easy.  It still goes a bit wonky and off kilter at points, and never gets dull. The end result is about as addictive as whatever drug is particularly addictive these days, but much better for you.
Buy: Chemikal - Amazon - iTunes

8. John Knox Sex Club - Raise Ravens

I can't tell you if I agree or not with the regular description of the John Knox Sex Club as "the best live band in Scotland" since I haven't seen them since some time last year - I know, poor show Jim - but I can tell you their second album, Raise Ravens, was one of the best released this year. Although folk is the simplest tag to apply, the music is regularly much more muscular and powerful than the folk label usually implies. Gentle laments trade places with growled vocals and distorted guitars, before the growls turn melodic, all with a sinister, menacing undercurrent. This is an intense and at times downright creepy album, blending the tradition with the modern, steeped in atmosphere. It is almost impossible not to get lost in, absorbed by Raise Ravens.
Buy: Bandcamp

7. You Already Know - Petrol Money

The first You Already Know album made my Best of 2009 list, and anyone that has been unfortunate enough to have put up with me talking about the band any time since won't be all that surprised that second album Stop Whispering is one of my favourites this year. More glorious noise. Also in The Gush/Meatshield.Into And Over You/It Comes In Waves this is the album with the filthiest sounding track progression of the year. Full review here. You Already Know have split now, but Petrol Money was a fine parting gift.
Buy: Bandcamp

6. Nicola Roberts - Cindarella's Eyes

Come ahead, I'm ready for you. A damn fine leftfield pop album, good lyrics, more effing, blinding and anger than you'd expect and much more interesting musically than some weedy indie nonsense. A regular listen, and a thoroughly enjoyable one too.
Buy: Amazon - iTunes

5. Monoganon - Songs To Swim To

My, that's a handsome cock. I've been a fan of John B. McKenna for a while, admittedly in part because he used to sell me beer while working in the pubs of Glasgow, but also for his music. Songs To Swim To is, by a distance, the best thing John and his band have released I think. Also, despite all my protests, proof that I've not entirely shunned folky poppy stuff this year.
Buy Vinyl/Free Download: Winning Sperm Party

4. Kochka - The Entropic Biopic of a Quixotic Psychotic

Still not sure about the title, but everything else about this album I love. Coming on like a demented funfair, complete with Markk Donnelly's attempt - a worrying successful attempt at that - at channeling a mad carnival barker, this is pretty much unlike anything else I've heard coming from Scotland this year. Addictive, fun, and nigh on impossible not to dance to, it took ages to get a debut album from Kochka but the result made the wait instantly forgivable.
Buy: Bandcamp

3. Conquering Animal Sound - Kammerspiel

When Kammerspiel was released at the start of the year I'd been looking forward to it a lot on the basis of what I'd heard from Conquering Animal Sound on record and on stage before, and the album didn't disappoint. Roughly a full year on from my first listen to the album I'm nowhere near tired of it yet. More blethering in the form of a review here.
Buy: Gizeh -  iTunes

2. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - Everything's Getting Older

I wasn't overwhelmed when Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat collaborated at Chemikal Underground's 15th anniversary gig back at the start of 2010, things verging a little too close to The Fast Show's jazz club at times for me, so I wasn't too sure what I'd think of the album that eventually followed. Teaser tracks A Short Song To The Moon and The Copper Top immediately dismissed any fears I had, and made me wonder if my ears had been working properly that night at the ABC.
The collaboration seemed to bring out the best in each other. Arguably Aidan's best work as a lyricist, finding new ways to break your heart and make you laugh, allied with Wells's subtle, measured compositions add up to something a wee bit special. Although as filthy as you'd expect from Moffat in parts, a lot of the album provokes genuine emotion and is mature and measured, the end result is pretty damn great.
Buy: Chemikal - Amazon - iTunes

1. Adam Stafford - Build a Harbour Immediately

I got a copy of Build A Harbour Immediately quite early last year from Adam Stafford, after I'd half joking complained to him that Lloyd from Peenko wouldn't shut up about how good it was having received a copy before me. I then spent several months trying not to annoy everyone I know by telling them how brilliant this album was, but no they couldn't buy it yet and no they can't have a copy off me. I think eventually Matthew Healy from Loch Awe was about ready to kill me.
Having alienated all of our friends that just left Peenko and myself repeating to each other how bloody marvelous an album this was. Then, one night in April, we were drunk together, and hatched a plan. One more Aye Tunes Vs Peenko gig, and we'd beg Adam to make it his album launch. He agreed, and then we had the fun of having to not annoy people by telling everyone about the launch gig for this amazing album that was still two-three months away. Anyway, the gig came round eventually, we spent a night with massive smiles on our faces, and we finally had people to agree with us that yes, Build A Harbour Immediately is indeed a pretty ace album, and we smiled some more.
It was at the album launch that I heard a description of the album far better than any I could come up with when Julian Corrie - Miaoux Miaoux - described it as "starts off fairly normal, then it just melts". Can't put it any better than that really.
At the halfway point of the album with Shot Down You Summer Wannabes - which was one of my favourite songs of 2010, and sold me on Adam solo in the first place - things take a turn for the unconventional. The guitars drop out, replaced with vocal loops, layers of noise, beatboxing, and all manner of lunacy. And it's brilliant.
That was all a terribly long way of saying "best album of the year" but yes, Build a Harbour Immediately is the best album of the year.
Buy: Bandcamp

That concludes our best albums of 2011, you may now begin pointing, laughing, disagreeing, or swearing never to return.

You can buy some, if not all, of these records from Monorail and Love Music in Glasgow too. Shops are nice, you get to talk to people in them. Some shops and some people are rubbish though, so you can also buy a lot of these from Insularis Records from the comfort of your own home, without even putting on clean clothes.