This Week's Happenings

Happy St Andrew's Day people. Time for the usual Monday round up of what's out and what gigs look good this week.

Records:
Night Noise Team release their debut single, Menolick, as a download. It's a new version of the song that appeared on the first Night Noise Team album, a live version also appeared on the Limbo Live Vol. 1 compilation. You can find it at all the usual download places, iTunes, Amazon etc.
The Wildhouse have an EP out, released by our pals 17 Seconds Records. Precise Running Order - The Wildhouse Sampler compiles tracks from The Wildhouse's two previous albums, both due to be reissued by 17 Seconds in 2010, and another track, Ficca. This one is slated for a review some time this week, so check back if you want to now what I thought of it.
Tango In The Attic release a new single too, Seven Second Stare. Check the usual download places for that too, and here's another handy Amazon link, because I'm clearly shameless this week.
Duelling Winos released a single at the tail end of last week, but I forgot to flag it up in last week's round up, so I'm doing that now. Someday/One For The Weekend was released on Friday, and all proceeds from it go to Teenage Cancer Trust.
We Were Promised Jetpacks, fresh from playing King Tut's last night, release a double A-side single, It's Thunder And It's Lightening/Ships With Holes Will Sink.

Gigs:
Trapped In Kansas and The Whisky Works are both big favourites round here, and both bands share the bill on Thursday at the Oran Mor as part of The Mill gigs. Text MILL62K to 82500 for tickets.
Strictly speaking this one should go in next week's round up, but just so you have plenty of notice, I'm throwing it in a week early too. Monday December 7th sees The Gothenburg Address launch their critically acclaimed debut album with a gig in Mono. Support comes from The Bucky rage and Loss Leader, with Aiden Moffat doing some DJing for good measure. You du not want to miss the Gothenburg Address album, you can order it here if you can't make the gig.
He Slept on 57 and City of Statues are also playing on the 7th at King Tut's.

As usual, give me a shout if I've missed anything.

EP Review: Sparrow and the Workshop - Into The Wild

Monday saw the release of the second EP by Glasgow based but hailing from all over the place three piece Sparrow and the Workshop. Since I really enjoyed their last EP (or are the mini albums? I'm not sure) Sleight of Hand, I picked up the new one too and now, somewhat obviously, I'm going to write about it a wee bit.

First of all Into The Wild, like Sleight of Hand was, is really good.
The band have a real chemistry together, which is obvious right from the off on opener You’ve Got It All. Jill O'Sullivan has a really powerful, but never overpowering, country tinged voice which is nicely complimented by Gregor Donaldson's vocal contribution.
The songs are dramatic, melodic and unpredictable, often taking twists and turns in the instrumentation that you never saw coming. Add all the parts together and you get something quite thrilling

Swam Like Sharks is probably my favourite of the songs on offer here, starting out gently, before morphing into something altogether rougher. It's only a slight nudge away from being all out metal at times, and all the better for it. There's not a bad song in the bunch, and enough variety across the seven tracks to show that Sparrow and the Workshop won't be going short of ideas any time soon.

As is befitting of a band with members hailing from America and Wales, as well as a Scot, there's no chance of Sparrow and the Workshop ever being tagged as just another Scottish band. Their sound is very distinctive, and stands out a mile from the also rans. They are one of those bands who bring to mind plenty of other songs and other bands, without ever sounding like anyone but themselves.

Into The Wild more than delivers on the promise of Sleight of Hand. Now, can we have something longer next time please?

Sparrow and the Workshop MySpace

Into The Wild is available as a download now from all the usual places. A physical release is due to follow on November 30th. Sparrow and the Workshop have a few gigs coming up, including a freebie in Glasgow for The Mill. Check their MySpace for full dates.

SXSW Announce Scottish Showcase Bands

South By Southwest have announced a list of their showcase acts for the 2010 festival.
Scottish bands playing include:
Broken Records
Frightened Rabbit
The Law
Tommy Reilly
Trembling Bells
Twin Atlantic
The View

Bit of a mixed bag, frankly...

Loch Lomond/The Builders and the Butchers - Split 12"

As promised, I'm attacking my inbox and doing all that stuff I was meant to do ages ago, but forgot about.

I'm not going to claim this is a review, because I don't have an awful lot to say about it, but I will throw in a wee bit.
Before that i should really tell you what I'm talking about first, shouldn't I? Well, it's a slightly unusual release in that it's a vinyl split 12". It's hard to make a 12" CD or download after all, although if you buy the 12" you will get a CDr thrown in, which is handy for folk like me that don't have working record players anymore.
The bands involved are Loch Lomond & The Builders and the Butchers, each contributing four songs. Neither of them are Scottish (although with that name Loch Lomond can at least claim a connection), hailing instead from Portland over in the good ole US of A. Why am I covering the release then? Well firstly because I'm allowed to write about stuff that isn't Scottish if I want, I'm not under a trade embargo you cheeky git, but mostly because the 12" is released over here by Song, by Toad Records. So there.

Both bands featured here are new to me, but after hearing this I'll be doing a bit of hunting down of their other stuff now.
Loch Lomond's songs are both gentle and lovely yet also at times a bit creepy and sinister. In that way they remind me a bit of Lambchop, even though the two sound nothing like each other.
The Builders and the Butchers are a bit rowdier, but the songs are just as good. Their first songs throws a bit of a mariachi flair into proceedings, before Vampire Flair, which you can sample below, goes off in another direction, almost putting me in mind of The Pogues.
Any release that can make me think of both Lambchop and The Pogues is a sure fire winner in my book.

The 12" has a very pretty drawing by Matthew of Song, by Toad on the front too.

Downloads:
Loch Lomond - A Field Report
The Builders & the Butchers - Vampire Lake

Buy from Song, by Toad Records

Album Review - Cuddly Shark

First of all, Cuddly Shark is a brilliant name, therefor to pull off such a name, your band has to be pretty great too. Good thing that Cuddly Shark manage it then. I've had this album a few weeks, and it that time it's had plenty of listens, but as is the way with me it has taken this long for me to get round to writing up a review.

Cuddly Shark caught my attention earlier this year with a trio of very promising singles, some tracks from them make a reappearance here on the album, so I was rather looking forwards to hearing this self titled debut album.

Right from the off the album grabs you and yells in your face, opening track Bowl of Cherries is all thrashy, shouty vocals and even - hurrah - hand claps. I'm a sucker for hand claps, ever since Kenickie released Come Out 2Nite.
From there on in the album is packed with fantastic riffs, razor sharp lyrics and most of all a massive sense of humour, at time the lyrics are so tongue in cheek it's amazing anyone can actually sing them.
Influences are worn of sleeves, but Cuddly Shark have so many different influences that throwing them all together brings out something quite special.
It isn't all manic riffs and shouted vocals either, the band switch things up often enough to keep things from getting stale, showing on Whiteoaks that they can be tender as well as tongue in cheek, and throwing in a cover of old country song Boney Fingers for good measure.

Along with all that this album contains both my favourite celebrity diss of the year with "Jamie Foxx on Later With Jools Holland", and my favourite sweary moment of the year on last single "The Sheriff of Aspen Bay".
AND there's an old fashioned hidden track at the end.

Brilliant stuff quite frankly. Cuddly Shark are clearly having a fantastic time on this record, and so am I.
The album might not have been out for long, but it has already forced it's way into my favourites of 2009.

As a wee sampler here's Cuddly Jim, which was a b-side to The Sheriff of Aspen Bay single. I'm picking this instead of something from the album because (a) it is fab, and the album tracks can be heard on MySpace and (b) it's got my name in it, obviously.

Download Cuddly Shark - Cuddly Jim

Cuddly Shark MySpace - Website
Buy the album here.

This Week's Thing

You know the deal with this post by now. Records out this week, a few gigs I like the look of and so on. It's essentially my shopping list.

Records:
Starting off with a freebie, Steve Mason (The Beta Band/King Biscuit Time) has a single out, called All Come Down. You can buy it, but it's also available as a free download here.
Sparrow and the Workshop follow up last week's download single with a new EP, Into the Wild. Digital release is today, CDs will be out next week.
eMusic has a reissue of Malcolm Middleton's Waxing Gibbous, which includes his "girl band" covers of The Saturdays, Girls Aloud, Ladyhawke and Joan Osbourne. The extra songs are also available without the album, on the Girl Band Pop Songs EP.
Some Scottish wummin off the telly has an album out too I think. Haven't heard much about it, don't expect it to shift many copies.

Gigs:
I'm not expecting to be out this week, in a desperate attempt to save money, so I haven't paid a whole lot of attention. Still, there's a couple that are tempting me.
On Thursday Make Sparks launch their new EP with a gig at Bar Bloc. Support comes from Little Yellow Ukuleles I mostly missed Make Sparks when they played Define Pop 2, so I might try and catch them this time.
Pin Up Nights takes place on Friday and it is having it's 6th birthday to boot. Playing live are The Dirty Cuts, Always Me, Me, Me as well as a pair of Aye Tunes favourites in We're Only Afraid of NYC and Mitchell Museum.
Our other good looking gig this week is on Sunday. The Second Hand Marching Band, Benni Hemm Hemm, theapplesofenergy and Meursault are playing at Stereo. Looks like a good one.
If you are in Dundee or thereabouts on Sunday, why not go along to the latest Manic Pop Thrills Presents night? There's more bands Aye Tunes love playing, like Kid Canaveral and Panda Su.
Also at the weekend there's all that Homecoming stuff going on. Tickets should be easy to get, if you fancy it. I'm still half expecting it to be downsized into taking place at the train station next to the SECC.

On The Blog:
This week I'll attempt to pick out anything in my email I've been meaning to cover but have forgotten about, and possibly catch up on some reviews. There's a vague plan to revive the old A-Z that fell apart back in May, and sometime over the next few weeks I'll be writing about some of my favourite releases of the year. You can make your own Al Megrahi jokes regarding that last one.

Single Review - eagleowl: Sleep The Winter

Somewhat luckily for me I came to the eagleowl party quite late. While all the people that have loved them since their last release, For The Thoughts You Never Had, have had to wait ages for a follow up I only got that EP recently, when the band offered it as a free download (which you can find here) so my wait for new material hasn't been long at all.

Even without the long wait, I was still terribly excited when the new single popped up in my inbox a bit ahead of release.

First reaction? Pretty much just "wow". Followed a few listens later by "this is bloody gorgeous".
I've listened to the single quite a few times since last night, and those two reactions haven't changed. These songs are bloody gorgeous.
On A-Side Sleep The Winter Bart's cracked voice is complimented perfectly by Clarissa's sweet, gentle tones. Likewise guitar and strings work perfectly together. What starts off dark and broody soon becomes warm and uplifting around halfway through, all courtesy of just a few simple changes.
B-Side Laughter is no less gorgeous. Again it keeps things simple, there's no histrionics, no showing off, just a great song.

Your one word review? Back to that first impression then. Wow. You'll struggle to find a more perfect seasonal release.
Now, like all the cool kids who picked up the first EP way back last year, I'm eagerly awaiting more new material from eagleowl. With a second EP due next year, hopefully the wait won't be too long...

The Sleep The Winter 7” single will be launched with a show at The Bowery (2 Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9SU) on Friday, December 11th. Doors open at 7.30, entry is £5, and early arrival is strongly advised, so’s not to miss the amazing special guests.
From December 14th the single will be available from select independent record stores, and to order via www.eagleowlattack.co.uk and www.kilterschmilter.co.uk. You also can listen to and buy it below.

eagleowl MySpace

Facelift

As you might have noticed I got bored and repainted.
I don't think I broke anything this time, let me know if I did.

Gig Review: The Kays Lavelle & Beerjacket

Glasgow PodcART Live Session, with The Kays Lavelle and Beerjacket.
The 13th Note, Glasgow - 18th November 2009

For someone who claims to hate doing gig reviews I do seem to write an awful lot of them at the moment. The thinking is that if I make myself do them I'll stop hating them so much, and get better at them. I always think my writing is awful, so that second part is down to you fine readers to judge. I'll try not to bore you with details of every gig I go to, and I'll be getting back to the other rambly posts soon.

Last night was another of Glasgow PodcART 's live session gigs, with, as you probably worked out by now, The Kays Lavelle and Beerjacket.

Oh look, it's Chris Lee-Marr, again. I'd forgotten that Chris plays drums with The Kays Lavelle. I swear I've seen him more times recently than I have most of my family members. Anyway...
The Kays were up first, and this was my first time seeing them, or hearing any more from them than a couple of songs on MySpace, so I was looking forward to it. I'm actually more familiar with singer Euan as a blogger than a musician, thanks to his blog TheSteinbergPrinciple, which you should all go visit (after you've finished reading me, of course).

Happily, I wasn't disappointed in them. From the way they sound they are instantly recognisable as an East Coast band. They don't sound much like Broken Records, Meursault or the like, but I can certainly hear them as part of the same "family", for want of a better word. That's a bit of a refreshing change for much. As much as I dearly love all my Glasgow bands that I go to see, something a bit different helps break things up a bit. Song names I'm hazy on, so I'll settle for the one that I do know as a highlight - not just because I know it, but because it was great - in the shape of Aftermath. Live the band sounded fantastic, and I'm really looking forward to their album, due out next year. Euan unintentionally talking about his mum's sex life added a laugh too.

There's not much I can say about Beerjacket that many others haven't said before me, and probably better than me. He is a fantastic artist and as a bonus a really nice man too.
Last night was no different than normal on that score, as Peter battered through his last album Animosity (my review of which we shall never speak of again - love the album, hate my review), threw in a fantastic sounding new song, played that cover version, and treated us to Barricade. A few times Peter berated himself, but I'll go ahead and speak for everyone that was there by saying that no matter what he thinks of himself, he and his songs are brilliant. Here's hoping Beerjacket gets his new material out before he starts hating those songs too!

Links:
Glasgow PodcART
The Kays Lavelle
Beerjacket

Gig review: Define Pop Festival 2

Want all your Define Pop Fest 2 review action in one place? Here you go then.

Oh, and didn't I tell you the football would be rubbish?

Gig Review - Define Pop Fest 2 - Day Two

Day 2 - Sunday

Day two was a bit of a more sedate affair than day one, we can probably put that down to everyone nursing hangovers from the previous day and a general quieter line up. That being said, it wasn't exactly a quiet chat round the campfire. Due to issues the previous day stage times were rejigged again, with some bands switching stages. My brain had pretty much given up trying to process information, so it became a bit of a lucky dip when it came to seeing people. As a result the reviews might be a bit random again.

Lovers Turned To Monsters kicked off the day in the open again Kitchen Stage. Unfortunately Kyle was on before most people had arrived, so played to quite a small audience. Those of us there early enough to see him enjoyed it though. I sometimes feel like I should be too old for Lovers Turn To Monsters, but Kyle does the acoustic lo-fi emo type thing really well. Glad I finally got round to seeing him.
Esperi played again on Sunday and this time there was no distractions from the other room. Once again I'm going to fall over myself praising Chris, simply because I find his live show both brilliant and utterly fascinating. I hope I'm not putting too much expectation on Chris now! Rather than me try to sum up the esperi set thanks to Sean from Glasgow Podcart you can go see some of it for yourself. Even when Chris steps away from the loop pedal he's still an excellent musician though, as he showed at the end of the set by finishing sat out in front of the stage, relying just on his guitar and voice, and held the crowd in silence listening.
Lad Lazarus was a band I didn't know much about beforehand, and only caught a bit of their set (my quest to try and see a bit of everyone backfired on me a few times). What I saw was really good, and left me kicking myself a bit that I hadn't seen more. I'll be keeping an eye out for another gig by them.
Little Eskimos I almost completely missed. Think i only caught about half a song. Shame, I'd quite fancied seeing them! Ah well, yet another band I'll need to catch another time.
Dead Boy Robotics - hey guess what? Yeah, missed most of their set too. The couple of songs I caught? Brilliant.
Diamond Sea - even though my by this point overfull brain kept trying to tell me were King Diamond - did what they did very well. On most days I'd have really enjoyed them too, but on Sunday I just couldn't get into it. That's entirely my fault, not a slant on them by the way. I'll make a point of checking them out further, Sunday evening was just a bad time for me to see them.
Julia and the Doogans I've seen a few times now, and never get bored of. They were a pretty much perfect pick me up on Sunday night when energy levels were running low. As I'm sure I've said other times I've reviewed them they write great songs and Julia has one of the most gorgeous voices I think I've ever heard.
The Second Hand Marching Band played with a stripped back line-up. I think I counted only 14 of them. I was a little concerned actually, they played in the Kitchen and I was right next to the stage, got a little bit worried I might get absorbed into the band. They were excellent though, as they have been previous times I've seen them. There's something about them makes me grin like a loon. Oh, and go check out a wee video of them here, which is just adorable.
The Lava Experiments ended up closing the weekend for me, and did so really well. They mix electronica with a sort of shoegazy sound, and are really good at it too. again, my enjoyment of them suffered from a combination of being knackered, wondering how to get home, and having seen so many bands. When I managed to get myself to pay attention they were magic though. The Release was a real highlight for me, it's a fantastic song.
Nevada Base were on last, things over running so much that sadly Yahweh's set was scrapped. Due to a desire to actually get home from Glasgow I opted to miss Nevada Base entirely. Sorry folks, hope it went well.
Err, sorry to everyone else too. Reading this back I realise that I've spent more time talking about missing your sets and my head being screwed than about how good you all were.

All in all it was an excellent weekend with a ton of excellent bands. I saw some full sets and a load of bits & pieces, I've ended up with a lengthy list of acts I need to go see again. I don't think I saw one duff act, and that's quite a result. It's a bit of a shame I never get to see Kochka, who had to pull out through illness, and Yahweh, who time ran out on, but stuff like that happens. (Oh, and I hope Sheryll from Kochka, as well as the ill Poochette, are both feeling better soon.)

Massive thanks have to go to Wull Swales for putting the event on and for seemingly keeping his calm throughout. I'm fairly sure if I'd been him I'd have exploded from stress at some point. I probably wouldn't even have made it through Saturday in fact.

Unrelated to the main post, but interesting to me - the day one review was seen by a frightening number of people. It's the third most visited post I've ever made on Aye Tunes and has only been up a few days. So thanks everyone for visiting, hope you've come back for this post and will stop by and see me now and then.

Gig Review - Define Pop Day One

Another attempt at writing up a review of Define Pop Fest 2.
Hopefully this one will be a bit more coherent, but don't count on it...

Oh, and didn't I tell you the football would be rubbish?

Day One - Saturday

Due to a couple of line up changes the running times I posted the other day pretty much went out the window early on. They were later picked up off the street outside the window and torn into little bits when Environmental Health shut down one of the stages for being too loud, meaning everyone had to be crammed into the Living Room stage. I've tried to remember the order I saw folk in, but it'll no doubt go awry at some point. It doesn't really matter anyway.

First band I caught were Little Yellow Ukuleles, although I missed the start of their set due to thinking they were still soundchecking, not actually playing... Good start to the weekend with this band. Good set of indie rock, not exactly reinventing the wheel or anything but still plenty entertaining.

Off to the other stage to catch esperi next, who was a late addition to Saturday. I could pretty much copy and paste my review of esperi from the Classic Grand in here, as it was once again entertaining, mesmerising and all kinds of brilliant. It did however suffer from being up against a loud band next door. It's quite distracting during those quiet moments when a door opens and all you can hear are the band in the other room. Esperi played again on Sunday, so he'll get another mention in the Day 2 review later.

Briefly caught a bit of Make Sparks, sounded really good. Sorry I didn't stick around for the whole set. Skipped next door to see Miniature Dinosaurs instead who I was very impressed with. Had heard a couple of songs before and dug them, but the band performing live exceeded expectations. I had a feeling that I'd either enjoy them, or they'd really annoy me. Thankfully I enjoyed them. Very good stuff.

The Morgue Party Candidate were good again, still somewhat chaotic but endearingly so. My only quibble was that the vocals got a bit lost in the mix. Other than that I enjoyed them.

Macabre Scene were a late addition to the bill. Saw them a wee while ago in Stereo and thought they had a lot of potential, on Saturday I was even more impressed. It hasn't been that long since I saw them, but they'd already improved a lot. Really like this band, and they do a killer Smiths cover. Get along to Pivo Pivo on Thursday to see them with The Morgue Party Candidate if you can, and swing by their MySpace, where they've just added a couple of new songs for download.

I didn't see enough of Other People to form an opinion. First sound sounded good though. Despite my efforts to see at least a little bit of everyone playing I somehow completely missed Pacific Theatre. Sorry guys.

Mickey 9s I'd barely heard before seeing, so they were a bit of a surprise package for me. Again, I missed the start of their set. Wandered in while they were covering Daft Punk's Da Funk and was hooked from there on. Massively entertaining and also really quite scary too. To say their frontman is interesting would be an understatement. He's certainly not shy... Anyway, really good stuff from them, and I'll pay more attention to them in future.

It's round about this time that we lost a stage and my brain started to get overloaded, so it'll be even briefer from here on in.

Gdansk were completely different from what I expected, reckon I had them confused with someone else. I really should pay more attention I know. They were much better than whatever band I thought I was going to see, which worked out nicely. Really good set from them.

Vendor Defender made me dance a bit. Excellent. I'm sorry i tried to say hello afterwards and called you totally the wrong band name, I'm an idiot...

Young Aviators are another band I'd only heard a little of before seeing, but was dead impressed with. I missed out on CDs and a cheap t-shirt, so if any of you happen to read this give me a wee shout.

Kid Canaveral were fantastic, and made me dance more. Had to risk death by stabbing on the night bus to Paisley to stick around for them, but it was worth it. As a bonus, I got home alive. Obviously.

Also, if anyone went home with a snare drum that wasn't actually theirs can they let me or Kid Canaveral know please? Their snare went missing on Saturday.

Day 2 review will follow. Sorry this is all a bit thrown together, and sorry to any bands I missed.

This Week's Thing

While I work on properly reviewing the weekend's Define Pop Fest 2, here's my semi-regular round up on stuff happening and records out this week.

Records: New singles aplenty this week. Frightened Rabbit (not White Rabbit, like the News of the World called them yesterday) release Swim Until You Can't See Land. Kitty The Lion have their debut single out, Lion in the Bed. Sparrow and the Workshop have a download only single, A Horse's Grin. Finally, The King Hats release Was A Riot At The Art School Last Night.
After it's physical release a few weeks ago, Paul Haig's new album Relive is now available from the usual download shops too.

Gigs: Frankly I'm too done in from the weekend to have paid much attention to what's happening this week, but there are a few that have caught me eye.
On Wednesday Glasgow Podcart are doing another of their live sessions, with The Kays Lavelle and the fantastic Beerjacket. You might struggle to get in to that one, but have a look over on PodcART's website for more info if you feel like chancing it.
On Thursday there are two interesting gigs worth checking out. Mitchell Museum and Lovers Turn To Monsters are playing acosutic sets at Bar Brel.
In the city centre Campfires In Winter, The Morgue Party Candidate and Macabre Scene are playing at Pivo Pivo. It'll be £3 well spent.

10 Reasons To Go To Define Pop 2

Still not sure if you should get out to Define Pop this weekend? Here's some reasons why you should.

1. Be the envy of children. Kyle Wood, AKA Lovers Turn To Monsters, sings the theme tune to Dennis and Gnasher, CBBC's new Dennis the Menace cartoon. Theme tune written by Iain Cook, formerly of Aereogramme for extra Scottish indie cred. See him on Sunday and tell your children/nieces & nephews/random kids at the swing park* Also, download that theme tune here.
2. Meet me. Alright, rubbish reason, but I'm a fairly nice guy really. Feel free to buy me a pint, I'll be your pal forever. Or you can just mock my bunny ears.
3. See Glasgow's biggest band. The Second Hand Marching Band play on Sunday. At last count there was about 500 of them. If bored you can play "spot the member of SHMB" and kill time between acts.
4. Meet the Glasgow PodcART crew. Ali, Sean, Halina, Nicola and Louise are significantly more awesome than me. Go say hi to them, you might even get on their next podcast.
5. The football will be rubbish. Wales Vs Scotland will be a terrible game of football, avoid the end of it by getting yourself into The Flying Duck in time for Little Yellow Ukuleles at 4.40.
6. Value for money. Seven quid a day for a whole bunch of bands (maybe cheaper if you ask the right people) is hard to argue with. The Flying Duck doesn't gouge you on drink prices either.
7. Great bands. Making that low price even more tempting is the line up. There's some really great bands playing over the weekend. If you can find a better selection of up and coming unsigned artists playing under one roof I'll be very surprised. In a few years time you'll be able to boast that you saw them in a tiny wee place in Glasgow. Define Pop's Wull Swales has done an excellent job putting this together, you should reward him by going along.
8. Pretty people. Shallow enough to only care about a band if they are attractive? Well you are in luck, there's some good looking folks playing. It's a better deal if you like boys admittedly, but there's some lovely ladies playing too.
9. Marvel at one man's noise. Sunday, 5.30pm. With apologies to Lad Lazarus who are on the other stage at the same time I advise everyone who can to see Esperi. After blowing me away the other week I can't stress enough how mesmerising it is to see esperi perform live. Especially if Chris plays Cats and Dogs.
10. Two stages, one place. No need to be out in the cold. Unless, like me, you smoke that is.

*Aye Tunes does not condone hanging round swing parks and talking to strange children. Apart from anything else they are likely to bottle you.

Frightened Rabbit News

First of all, the new Frightened Rabbit album The Winter of Mixed Drinks is set for release on March 1st 2010. That seems so far away...
The tracklisting goes like this :
1.Things
2. Swim Until You Can't See Land
3. The Loneliness & The Scream
4. The Wrestle
5. Skip The Youth
6. Nothing Like You
7. Man/ Bag Of Sand
8. Foot Shooter
9. Not Miserable
10. Living In Colour
11. Yes I Would

To make the wait a little bit easier there's a new single - Swim Until You Can’t See Land - out on Monday, November 16th.

Lead singer Scott Hutchison has this to say about the new album: ‘We've broadened our horizons sonically and it feels like a natural move forward. Most importantly, it’s better than the last one. That's all I wanted, really.’ Produced once again by Peter Katis, at Tarquin Studios in Connecticut, and engineered by Stuart Hamilton at Castlesound Studios in Scotland, ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’ boasts stunning string arrangments from labelmate, Teutonic ivory-botherer, Hauschka. ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ takes up where we left off - metaphorically (or otherwise) floating in the Forth - and is pivotal to the new record. ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ was the title I had in my mind before I even started writing the album’, says Scott ‘I was becoming more and more interested in the idea of a rejection of the habits and behaviour most people see as normal. It’s about losing your mind in order to reset the mind and the body. Forget what’s gone before and wash it out. It’s a good introduction to the record’s themes”

Frightened Rabbit have added an extra member to their line up too, former Make Model member Gordon Skene. Scott says "We want to do the recordings justice when we play them live. Gordon will be playing a bundle of instruments - we just bought a tasty wee mandolin for him to fiddle with today. We're really excited to have him involved."

Frightened Rabbit are off on a national tour at the moment, playing in support of both Gomez and Modest Mouse, as well as a handful of headline Scottish shows.

Frightened Rabbit MySpace

Define Pop Fest 2 - Stage Times

For those planning on getting down to the Flying Duck this weekend for Define Pop 2, here's the stage times for both days:

Living Room Stage - Saturday
5.20 Miniature Dinosaurs
6.10 Louise Against The Elements
7.00 Mickey 9's
7.50 The Costapeens
8.40 Kochka
9.30 Vendor Defender
10.20 Kid Canaveral

Kitchen Stage - Saturday
4.40 Little Yellow Ukuleles
5.30 Make Sparks
6.20 Blessed Order Of Fallen Stars
7.10 The Morgue Party Candidate
8.00 Other People
8.50 Pacific Theatre
9.40 Gdansk
10.30 Young Aviators

Living Room Stage - Sunday
4.30 Lovers Turn To Monsters
5.20 Esperi
6.10 Incrediboy and The Forget Me Nots
7.00 Julia and the Doogans
7.50 Diamond Sea
8.40 The Lava Experiments
9.30 Second Hand Marching Band
10.20 Yahweh

Kitchen Stage - Sunday
4.40 Marshall Chipped
5.30 Lad Lazarus
7.10 Little Eskimos
8.00 Dead Boy Robotics
8.50 Stereo Grand
9.40 Nevada Base
10.30 Pooch

I'll be kicking about both days, come say hello.

Haven't had a chance to have a more in depth look at the acts playing unfortunately. I'll try to squeeze in a couple of features before the weekend, but don't count on it.
Sorry to the people I miss out. Sorry if I miss you playing too, it won't be anything personal (probably)

Manic Pop Thrills Presents:

Another gig to flag up, this time one away from Glasgow.

Presented by our friends over at Manic Pop Thrills, taking place on November 29th upstairs in the Westport Bar in Dundee.

Tickets are £5 from Groucho's and the first 50 advance purchasers will also get a free EP on arrival. Pop over to Manic Pop Thrills if you need any more details.

I must confess to knowing nothing about Hookers For Jesus, but Panda Su and Kid Canaveral re both big favourites round here. Haven't heard much of Saint Jude's Infirmary - their albums are patiently waiting for me to have money to buy them - but what I've heard sounds pretty lovely.

This Week's Happenings

Time for one of those weekly round up things I do when I feel i should write a post, but am too lazy to use my brain for anything special.

New records this week include an album from Roddy Hart, a digital release of Cast of the Capital's Rotten Kids and Haversacks EP, which I reviewed a few weeks ago here, and the debut album by Cuddly Shark, which I've been looking forward to hearing.
There's a new single out from Escape Act too, called Cabin Fever. They are from Northern Ireland rather than Scotland, but I like them, and it's out on 17 Seconds Records, a Scottish label.
Also releasing a single, Zagora Road, are The Ray Summers.
A more high profile release comes in the shape of the latest Biffy Clyro album. Haven't heard it myself, but I'm hearing encouraging things about it.
The latest EP by Go Away Birds s due to be available for free download here today, but as I write this isn't up yet.

Tons of gigs on this week. Meursalt play The 13th Note on Tuesday the 10th. Bronto Skylift and Lions.Chase.Tigers at the Detour Podcast launch I've mentioned already. On Friday night you can catch The Darien Venture at Capitol in Glasgow, and on Saturday the quite fantastic You Already Know play The 13th Note. I can't make it to the YAK show sadly, as I'll be at Define Pop in the Flying Duck, don't forget to come say hi to me if you are going there too.

There will be releases I've missed, and gigs I've not listed, there always is. If you want me to mention something, don't forget to tell me.

Detour Podcast Launch Night

As I've said before, I prefer to leave gig guides to other sites that can do it better than me, but some things I'll post up here, mostly things I'm going to.

This is one I might not get to, but if I don't I'll be kicking myself.
The occasion of the night is, as the poster suggests, to launch the new Detour Podcast. The podcast itself sounds like something worth keeping an ear out for.
Even if it turns out rubbish, which I really doubt it will, Bronto Skylift and Lions.Chase.Tigers are both excellent bands, well worth seeing.

Detour Scotland Website - MySpace - Facebook

Kochka - Dacha/Summer House EP Review

Kochka are a band I've been meaning to write about for ages, but for on reason or another I've never quite gotten round to it. Since they are one of the bands playing Define Pop 2, and since they really cheered me up on a bad day by sending me badges, it's about time I finally gave them the coverage I've been intending to.

Kochka (Czech for "cat" I believe) are a four piece, formed in Glasgow. Made up of two girls and two boys - Sheryll, Mhairi , Stewart and Markk - they make music, funnily enough. Since forming in 2008 they've kept themselves busy gigging extensively, both on their own and supporting the likes of The Phantom Band, and slipping out a couple of EPs and a single. Second EP, Dacha/Summer House was released way back in August. I picked it up from eMusic on release, loved it, and promptly forgot to review it.

The Dacha/Summer House EP holds the distinction for the release I've taken the longest to get round to reviewing then. I'll point out now that that is no reflection on the quality of it - as the review will show - but is all down to my good old fashioned forgetfulness and circumstances too boring to detail.
The first thing that struck me about the EP was that even though it hadn't been that long since I'd gotten their previous release, The Dead Room Party single, they'd improved quite a bit, and I say that as someone who loved that earlier single (Sadly I don't have debut EP Numbers. Wonder if the band have any left they could sell me?). Maybe improved is the wrong word. If so, take your pick from evolved or matured instead. Stop looking at me like that, I've always said I'm rubbish at writing reviews... The other thing that struck me was that I was struck with a sudden urge to dance around the room. Good work by the songs, but not pretty for anyone who may have the misfortune to see my shimmy.

Right from the off lead track Cowards and Kings grabs you with a jangling, Television-esque guitar line, before Markk's distinctive vocals kick in. Next thing you know you've been dragged along for the ride through a song while changes direction several times and remains infectious throughout.
So far so good then, but things get even better with the next track, Dacha (In The Summer). Outstanding bass and percussion threaten to steal the show for a while before falling back around half way through to allow Stewie to take centre stage with his guitar. It brings about 50 different songs to the back of my head, just enough for me to think "that sounds a bit like..." before shoving them away before I can think of what. The lesson I'm taking from this is that it might remind me a bit of something, but it just sounds like Kochka.
Memory Box / Personal Effects has a darker tone to it, and a lot going on in the background. I swear there's a typewriter in there somewhere. It's a bit sleazy, very funky, and an awful lot excellent.
Finally Black Cat closes proceedings and goodness, they've quite possibly saved the best for last. Quite a trick considering the previous three songs, as you can hopefully tell, left quite an impression. Distorted guitars, Markk's vioce threatening to venture into Pixies territory, percussion all over the place tapping out a beat straight into your urge, defying you not to move.

All the songs from Dacha/Summer House - and a few not from it - can be heard on the band's MySpace. I urge you to have a listen.
Kochka don't do indie by the numbers. There music might initially sound simple enough, but that's all part of their diabolical plan to make your body move before you've noticed you aren't listening to another plain, run of the mill band. There's some fantastic musicianship going on in there, and careful or repeated listen will make you notice that things are a lot more complex than you initially thought. These aren't disposable, sing-along 3 minute pop songs, they are smart, sexy, funky and oh-so-groovy.
If listening at home close the curtains, make sure the dog isn't watching, and dance your arse off to this fantastic little EP.

For the next few days you can snag a free download of Man Of Letters here.
Find Kochka on MySpace - Last.fm

Kochka's records are available at shows, in the usual independent shops, and to download from the like of eMusic and iTunes.
They play The Living Room stage of Define Pop 2 on Saturday Nov. 14, Sleazies in Glasgow on the 20th and in Stirling on Dec. 20th. Go see them.

Gig Review: Debutant, Esperi, Panda Su and Yahweh

Amidst the freezing cold winds, pouring rain and general miserableness on Sunday's weather there was one huge bright spot, the gig in The Classic Grand.
If you've been here at all in the last week you'll know all about it, but just in case you haven't, Glasgow PodcART put on a gig with four pretty swell acts. I went, rubbish weather and no money is a poor excuse for missing out on a line up like this -especially since I'd seen none of the acts before, and this is what I thought of it.

Taking the stage first was Debutant, AKA Phillip Quirie. Debutant's first song was marred by technicals issues. Fortunately that was sorted out quickly and the rest of the set, just one man, his guitar and his pedals, provided a fine start to the evening. Gentle and mellow but never becoming samey, up until King of Double Speak provides a surprisingly intense climax to the set. I think this might also have been the quietest gig audience I've ever come across too, as everyone stood (or sat) hushed, listening to Phillip go to work. One of the lyrics from one of the songs (sorry, the title escapes me, help very welcome!) was "You know I hang on every word you say", which pretty much summed up what I thought of Debutant.

Panda Su was up next and after the rotten job I did on her profile piece the other day (sorry again Su) her set was always going to be bombproof review-wise. Luckily for me I don't need to say nice things about it just to make up for being rubbish, since Panda Su were actually brilliant. Joining Su and her regular cohort Red was esperi's Chris on drums and later Jonnie Common, hopping up on stage at Su's invitation. Su promised to keep between song chatter was kept to a minimum, even though there was still more of than you'll get with many bands, due to Su being a bit under the weather, but any illness doesn't appear to have affected the performance. Panda Su's songs have an air of melancholy and fragility to them, but are delivered in a strong, confidence voice that can alternately put a smile on your face and a crack in your heart.
Also, you can't really complain about any band that has a front woman with panda face paint and a song about Prince Eric from the Littlest Mermaid, can you?
There's a little sample of Panda Su's set - Facts and Figures - recorded on the night by Glasgow Podcart here.

Tonight esperi was just Chris Lee-Marr and his selection of instruments, of which there were many. Beginning by inviting the audience in closer to the stage and assuring us he's "not that scary" Chris then abandoned the stage for his first song opting instead to quietly sing Home from atop a table, after which he admitted that maybe he is a bit scary after all. Having never seen esperi I didn't know what to expect from the set, but I think any expectations would have been blown anyway. It was incredibly engaging throughout, enchanting almost. On Cats And Dogs Chris went through God knows how many instruments, looping little bits as the song gradually builds. By my count Cats and Dogs clocked in at around 20 minutes long and throughout the full length never threatened to get stale or boring. It would be easy for this kind of thing to be performed too seriously, but thankfully Chris Lee-Marr isn't just a fantastic musician, he also has a sense of humour, so things never get too earnest. Tremendous stuff.

The final act was Yahweh, playing as a full band tonight, and elevating the noise levels in all the best ways. Main man Lewis Cook is probably sick and tired of people mentioning his youth, but I'm going to do it again anyway. For one so young not only do Cook's songs have incredible maturity, but he's comfortable on stage too. Add into that a tight live band and Yahweh are quite special live. I mentioned in my feature last week that I'm a big fan of the album, Tug of Love, I'm possibly an even bigger fan of the way the songs sound live now. Great songs, great band, great night!

Both Yahweh and esperi are performing at Define Pop 2, I can't wait to see them both at that.
Panda Su is back in Glasgow in December for the PodcART crew's Christmas Party, in a night that I won't be missing. Hopefully it won't be too long before Debutant pays Glasgow another visit too.

Lest I forget, Waves Below did a great job keeping the ambiance going between acts from the DJ booth.

Links: Glasgow PodcART - Oxjam - Debutant - Esperi - Panda Su - Waves Below - Yahweh

EP Review: Kid Canaveral - Left And Right

We've established that I'm not the best at keeping up on what I'm meant to be doing by now, so it should come as no surprise that I once again preface a review with an apology. Sorry to Kid Canaveral, who sent me over their new EP just before it's launch night weeks ago and it has taken me this long to get round to reviewing it.

There's something I knew already about Kid Canaveral from picking up their previous singles, and that is that they know their way around a catchy tune. The Left and Right EP reinforces this from the off, with the opening track after which the EP is named grabbing you instantly with it's killer hook, sweet harmonies, summery cheeriness and all round bouncy joy. Indie pop splendidness that reminds a bit of The Delgados (and being compared favourably to The Delgados is one of the highest compliments I can pay someone).

From there the songs change direction somewhat - no pigeonholing for this lot. Stretching the Line is still catchy as heck, but throws an electronic drum beat and some strings into the mix. Still cheery, still headboppy, but entirely different from Left and Right.

Finally Long in the Tooth closes the EP and is another shift in direction, leaving behind the bounciness for a more gentle, melancholic tone.

With just three tracks, the longest clocking in at three minutes long, the EP doesn't run any risk of outstaying it's welcome, but shifting the songs from out of your head will take considerably longer. Left and Right is a great little piece of work from a band who started off pretty damn good but continue to evolve and improve.

You can buy the EP, on cassette no less, direct from the band here. They'll give you a free download with the tape, so there's no need to panic that you won't be able to listen to it. If you just want the download the EP is also available from eMusic, iTunes etc.
MySpace

Kid Canaveral play the upcoming Define Pop Festival II at The Flying Duck, so can we pretend I'm not horribly late with this review and I was just saving it to act as a Define pop preview? No? Oh ok then.

More on Define Pop Festival 2

I've mentioned the second Define Pop Festival a couple of times already, but now there's a wee poster to show you to go with it.
Some of the artists playing - Kid Canaveral, Esperi, The Morgue Party Candidate, Yahweh, Second Hand Marching Band - have featured on Aye Tunes before, others are scheduled to appear on here between now and the gig. I doubt I'll get round to everyone, but I'll try to do as many as I can.
Barring any hiccups I'll be attending both days, desperately trying not to drink too much so I can review it afterwards.

If you want any more details head on over to the Define Pop MySpace. If you ask nicely over there you might even be able to get tickets at a lower price than Tickets Scotland are asking.

Yahweh

It's the final day of the previews for Sunday night's big New Artists gig, presented by Glasgow Podcart. Surprisingly I've kept to my schedule with the posts, although the Panda Su one was written while exhausted after a pair of awful days and was incredibly half arsed. Sorry Su...

On record Yahweh is Lewis Cook, an 18 year old multi-instrumentalist from Moffat, now based on Glasgow. For one so young Lewis is disgustingly talented. His debut album, the bedroom recorded Tug of Love, was released earlier this year and is a fantastic piece of work. It's a proper record of two sides, the first half, Dear Green Place, dedicated to Cook's new base of Glasgow, the second, The Long Plain, to his home town of Moffat.

It's a little difficult to pin down the sound, Cook writes minimalist, alt-folky songs, then adds textures and layers of instruments, occasionally augmented with samples and electronica beats.
All together, it's like a bit of a clash between Arab Strap, especially their first album, slices of Mogwai, and Boards of Canada, without being derivative of any of them.

On stage Lewis is joined by a full band, with Stuart Anderson, Hugh Guthrie and Sadie Ryan helping out. Out of all the artists performing on Sunday Yahweh is the one I have most familiarity with, since I've got the album. However, like all the others I've not yet caught them live. Again just like the others I'm really looking forward to doing so on Sunday.

I didn't have time to ask permission to use this before I wrote the post, so hopefully Yahweh won't mind.
Download Yahweh - Glasgow Smiles Better

If you need any more convincing to get along on Sunday all four artists playing feature on this week's Glasgow PodcART podcast, so you can have a listen.

Yahweh MySpace
Buy Tug Of Love

Huge thanks to everyone that has visited Aye Tunes this week, or helped send people over here. My traffic this week has been higher than any week previously. You will all come back and visit me sometimes, won't you?

Now that I'm done writing about gigs for the week, I'm off out to go to some. I'll probably be taking the weekend off from the blog, but you can email me if you want to get in contact and catch me on Twitter if you have the urge to know what I'm drinking. I'll be back at the start of next week, there's a few EP reviews coming up, and there should be some gig reviews too.

Hallowe'en Special

Can't resist the temptation to knock out a quick post for Halloween.

First of all, what's more terrifying than Michael Jackson? Not much really, so here's Aereogramme covering Thriller, taken from their Livers & Lungs EP.

There's a whole bunch of Halloween themed gigs & club nights happening over the weekend. I won't be attending any of them though, since my weekend is already packed with gigs. Instead I'll stay in on Saturday, avoid answering the front door and watch a selection of scary films.

As far as films go, what is more perfect for Halloween than, well, Halloween? Just John Carpenter's original of course, stay away from sequels and remakes.

Aidan Moffat quite likes Halloween too, so much so that one of his many side products, Ben Tramer - named after a boy Laurie Strode mentions having a crush on - released an EP years ago reworking parts of the Halloween soundtrack. You can get a taste of that here: Ben Tramer - Laurie's Theme (Halloween 1978)

Finally, Glasgow's The Plimptons have a special single out, called 'I Hate Hallowe'en'. It sounds a bit like The Misfits version of Monster Mash, with a Scottish accent. Fantastic then. It's available as a free download here.

The Twilight Sad Announce Intimate Scottish Gigs

Headline says it all for this one really.
The Twilight Sad have lined up two Scottish gigs in December.

On December 15th they will play The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh, on the 16th they cross country to play Nice N Sleazy in Glasgow.

Tickets are available now from Synergy Concerts

Panda Su

Day three of the New Artists Showcase gig previews. Are you as surprised as I am that these are appearing on a timely basis?

Panda Su is, mostly, Su Shaw, a young lass from St. Andrews who writes her own songs, sings, and plays guitar, as well as a host of other instruments. being able to play every instrument going is an advantage in the studio, where she can record songs of great beauty, but makes recreating the songs live a bit tricky. To help out she is frequently joined on stage by some helpers, like unofficial second member Adam Phillips - who allegedly can't play anything - and esperi's Chris Lee-Marr.

Panda Su makes songs that are mature, gorgeous, and at times melancholy. I can't wait to catch her on Sunday.

Oh, and she also paints her face to look like a panda.

Panda Su recently released a new EP, Sticks and Brick, produced by Steve Mason, formerly of The Beta Band. You can get copies through her MySpace, or at gigs.

Panda Su MySpace

Waves Below

Messing up my one feature a day plan since I wanted it finished the day before the gig, Waves Below will be joining the line up of Sunday's New Artists Showcase gig, so today there's a double dose of spotlights.


Neil Milton is a man with his fingers in a lot of pies. Along with Heidi Kuisma he is one half of We Sink Ships. We Sink Ships is a photographic and musical project between Heidi and Neil. I couldn't possibly describe their work and do it justice, instead I urge you to check it out for yourselves. Their latest project, Masquerade, can be found here.

Additionally Neil takes his musical side further as beneath us, the waves, making ambient soundscapes. Originally formed to provide music for We Sink Ships, the music started to gain as much attention as the photography did and was spun off into beneath us, the waves.

Waves Below is a spin off from beneath us, the waves set up to differentiate Neil's DJing and remixing work, with a more electro basis, from his own musical projects.

In addition to all that Neil was formerly a member of the band Troika, ran the too many fireworks record label, releasing singles by Troika, Findo Gask, Errors and more, and for two years ran the club night fire: works at Barfly.

You can get a taster of Waves Below's DJing at SoundCloud.

Esperi

Day two of my spotlight on artists play this Sunday's big Glasgow PodcART gig, the line up for which has grown with the addition of Waves Below DJing at the show. The gig is also now tieing into Oxjam, making it even more worthwhile!

esperi is mainly the work of Chris Lee-Marr, assisted at times by any combination of his wife Cat, Jon Adam, Kev Black , Craig Arnott and Eilidh Glynn.

Again, I've not yet caught esperi live and aside from hammering the songs on MySpace to prepare for this, haven't heard an awful lot of their stuff. What I've heard is great though. Similar to Debutant there's a lot of layering of vocals and different instrumentation - some very exotic and unconventional instruments at that - going on, combines to form gorgeous gentle, melodic storytelling songs

esperi are launching their new EP 21:21 at the show too. If I've got my copy/paste right there ought to be a wee widget down the bottom that will let you buy a copy. In addition to Sunday's gig there's a lot more esperi live dates coming up, including Define Pop II.

I don't have any mp3s I can post, but you can hear esperi songs at MySpace and Last.fm. You have to listen to Proverb Part 2. That isn't a suggestion, that's a demand.

Don't Forget!

Just because I'm focusing a lot on the gig I'm going to on Sunday this week doesn't mean you should forget about the one I'll be at on Friday!

All the details here.

Debutant

In the run up to Sunday's gig I'll be taking a quick look at each of the four acts performing, one each day.
Since I'm not all that familiar with any of them - Sunday will be the first time I've seen any of the four - this could be terrible, but I'll try my best!

Debutant is just one man, an Aberdonian gent by the name of Phillip Quirie, who has embraced the DIY music ethos for his work.
Starting off in his bedroom in 2007 and plugging away since he has more recently been juggling Debutant duties with being a member of Edinburgh's Meursault.
Debutant plays a mostly instrumental set with occasional vocals, just one man, his guitar and an assortment of pedals, but makes a very big sound.
I've only been able to listen to a couple of Debutant songs, but those few I've heard provoke instant reactions, the main one being massive anticipation to see and hear the set on Sunday.

What I've heard has been gorgeous, dreamy soundscapes, packed with atmosphere. For quick, lazy comparison look to My Bloody Valentine. Minus the ear bleeding volume and feedback that is.

Phillip is currently working on a debut album which will hopefully be out early next year. I for one can't wait to hear more.



Debutant MySpace

What's Happening This Week?

My list of things to listen to keeps getting longer despite my attempts to stay on top of it, so why not fall a little further behind by taking a break to run through a few things happening this week? If nothing else it'll save me from messing about with templates any more, I've already broke the blog 3 times today.

Cassidy and Roddy Hart both have singles out. As do French Wives, which I reviewed last week. Those French Wives songs are still wedged in my head incidentally, I've found myself humming Halloween on countless occasions over the last few days. The band were also in good form when I caught them in Bloc last week. It was a shame about the pain in the arse drunk bloke that caused quite a few people to leave early though. I'm a non violent kind of guy, but that twat deserved a sound thrashing.

Luke Haines - who isn't at all Scottish, but is a big favourite of mine - has a new album out today.

eagleowl have sold out of physical copies of their debut EP, so they've made it available for download on one of those pay what you want, even nothing type deals. I've not yet had a listen to this, but they are on Song, by Toad so chances are high that it'll be good.

Staying with the freebies, The Mill have added some songs by The Darien Venture gig that I was at a few weeks ago.

In case you haven't heard, there's a pair of good gigs coming up this weekend which I'll be attending. Say hi if you see me (if you want to know what I look like, which admittedly helps when saying hi to strangers, there's a photo on my neglected and rubbish MySpace. No laughing!), drink offers are also welcome.

Also on the gig front, the Stirling and Glasgow dates of Frightened Rabbit's Scottish tour have sold out, leaving me ticketless...

No doubt there's a bunch of other records out this week, there's certainly other gigs on, but I can't cover everything, can I? Better people than me run gig guides, so I'm sure you can find something to keep you occupied. You can always leave a comment if there's something you want to plug.

As always if you want to help make that list of things to listen to and cover longer, do please get in touch. Best way to get something to me is good old email, if you want to send me anything non electronic ask and you can have my address, so long as you promise not to rob me when I'm out.

Finally on a personal note I'd just like to say a massive, massive thank you to Glasgow PodcART who said some really nice things about Aye Tunes at the weekend, Halina made me blush in her piece about blogs.

EP Review: Cast of the Capital - Rotten Kids and Haversacks

Still trying to get caught up on listening to records. This one has been sitting on the to do list for a few weeks, so time to get to it.

Cast of the Capital are a four piece, formed in Aberdeen by brothers Steve and Matthew Morris, joined by Alastair Naylor and Jamie Watt. Since forming in 2006 they've done some intensive gigging, supporting the likes of Xcerts and Trapped In Kansas, playing Rock Ness and Belladrum and catching the ear of Steve Lamacq, Vic Galloway and Jim Gellatly.

The Rotten Kids and Haversacks EP is the band's first full release. It came out on CD in September and will be available through iTunes in November.

The first song, Comiston Springs, is pretty enough, poppy and jangly, with a bit of a Teenage Fanclub feel to it. Catchy, decent stuff so far then. For me the EP really comes to life with the second track, The Witching Hour, slowing things down and stripping it back a bit. This song actually reminds me a good bit of Mitchell Museum, but without making me think I'm listening to a different band than the rest of the songs.
From there we get Passing The Horse, again a jangly sparkly wee thing, which is just fine, once again catchy and danceable before slowing things down again for Crematory Blues. Like The Witching Hour, its the slower more acoustic sounding Crematory Blues that really catches my ear, before we switch back to something more cheery sounding in Tree Sleep to finish off.

A wee bit of a mixed bag then you might think, but it's a good mix. I preferred the quieter, slower songs to the indie-pop ones, but they do their job just fine and the quality never dips below "good". Were it not near the end of October I'd probably enjoyed the poppy songs more, they've got a nice summery feel to them, but since it's dark and freezing my brain isn't quite appreciating them as much as it would when the sun comes out. The EP as a whole is certainly well worth a listen.

Cast of the Capital MySpace
Buy Rotten Kids & Haversacks

Essential New Artists Showcase

There's always a ton of good gigs happening in Glasgow, but over the next few weeks - right up until the end of the year in fact - there's some particularly eye catching events happening. I've already mentioned a couple I'll be going along to, like next week's 17 Seconds Night and the upcoming Define Pop Festival, and here's another one, presented by the lovely folk at Glasgow PodcART.

The gig takes place on November 1st at The Classic Grand in Glasgow. Perfoming on the night are Debutant, esperi, Panda Su and Yahweh.

This promises to be a fantastic gig. I'll be going along and reviewing it, so if you can't make it be sure to swing back here so I can tell you how much you missed out.

Tickets cost £5 and are available from We Got Tickets

Also, aren't those posters pretty?

For a bit more info swing by Glasgow Podcart.

17 Seconds Night

Remember a couple of weeks back I posted about 17 Seconds Records? Well, the whole crew is coming to Glasgow for an evening of music.

Taking place in The 13th Note in Glasgow on the 30th of October there will be sets from Escape Act, The Dirty Cuts, X Lion Tamer and Chris Bradley.
All for a measely £4 entrance fee.
Not a bad way to spend the night before Hallowe'en.
So, we'll see you down there, aye? Don't forget to say hi.

17 Seconds Records MySpace

Define Pop Festival 2 Update

Last week I wrote a wee bit about the mouthwatering line-up for the second Define Pop Festival, taking place on the 14th and 15th of November in The Flying Duck, with a promise of any updates as I got them.

Well, tickets are on sale NOW from Tickets Scotland.

Single Review: French Wives - Halloween/Dogfight

Still got limited computer access, still got the attention span of a goldfish, still job hunting without luck. Due to all that I'm ridiculously behind in reviewing things I've either bought or been sent. One day I'll catch up.

Grabbing something randomly from the "to do" pile throws up the debut double A side single from French Wives. Confusingly they aren't French, and I don't think any of them are wives either. Instead, they are a five piece from Glasgow who have been gigging their wee hearts out for ages now.

Bringing us to this, the debut single, due out next Monday.
Cunning timing then, considering that one of the songs is titled Halloween. It isn't, by the way, a cover version of The Misfits song, even though that would have amused me greatly. Neither is it scary. In fact, it's quite a jolly wee number, with a violin, xylophone and some brass, alongside some jangly guitar and nice harmonies. It's a well crafted wee number that builds, soars, and does other things that make me sound pretentious. After all that soaring and building, there's a strong finish too, which is always handy. As always, my description does the song no justice at all.
The other A side, Dogfight, isn't miles away from Halloween, but is shorter, more direct, and catchy as heck. Nice is a terrible way to describe a song but yeah, this is nice. There's a summery feel to both songs too, which is perfect for times like now, when you are freezing cold and it is pitch black outside.

Sounds a bit like a jaunty My Latest Novel, but just a bit. There's some Aberfeldy, some Camera Obscura, even a bit of Belle & Sebastian in there too. If you likes those bands, you'll almost certainly like French Wives. If you don't, go have a listen to them anyway and stop being so judgmental will you?

For the purposes of reviewing I listened to these songs a few more times tonight and now they've taken up residence in my head and don't seem to want to go away. That makes them highly recommended then.

The single is out next Monday, October 26th, on Instinctive Racoon Records.

French Wives MySpace

French Wives play Bloc in Glasgow on Wednesday 21dt October with the also worth checking out We're Only Afraid Of NYC, before playing The Admiral Bar on the 25th as part of Oxjam Takeover.

Fatcat Want Your Money

Fatcat Records have a good singles coming out over the next wee while from their trifecta of fantastic Scottish bands.

Out today is The Twilight Sad's Seven Years of Letters, taken from the recently released Forget The night Ahead album. The B-side is a cover version of The Wedding Present's Suck, so worth buying for that alone really.

Following that on November 16th is much anticipated new material from Frightened Rabbit, in the shape of their new single Swim Until You Can't See Land. B-side Fun Stuff is a new version of Last Tango In Brooklyn, which has been knocking around for ages. Next year will see a new Frightened Rabbit album, so this'll have to do to tide us over. Sea related pun only half intended.

Finally on November 23rd We Were Promised Jetpacks release another single from debut album These Four Walls, unleashing double A side It's Thunder And It's Lightning / Ships With Holes Will Sink. No new B-sides unfortunately.

Fatcat records are available from record shops, generally show up on eMusic

, or you can get them direct from their website.