Thursday, 30 September 2010

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko III

No one ever stops at two, you need to have at least a trilogy, don't you?
With that in mind Peenko and myself have been working for a while on the third AVP gig which we can finally announce. We'll be the Back To The Future, Toy Story, Evil Dead and Friday series, not The Matrix, MVP: Most Valuable Primate, Beverly Hills Cop or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
We promise no Ewoks and no Sophia Coppola. All bands will be appearing in full definition 3D though, unless you only have one eye.

Never ones to outstay our welcome (shh) we've upped sticks again, shifting to downstairs at The Classic Grand this time round, so we are nice and handy for the train station and Pizza Hut. If you saw me before either of the previous gigs you might have noticed a lot of blind panic, well The Classic Grand is a much bigger venue than The Captain's Rest or The 13th Note were, so expect my look of panic to be significantly increased too. But enough about me shitting myself, and more about the fools bands we've somehow managed to get to play for us.

The Seventeenth Century are simply a band I can't see myself getting bored of watching. Not only do they have magnificent songs, but also a level of on stage energy and chemistry that has to be seen to be believed. Don't just take my word for it, listen to John Robb, who said "Their sound is utterly original and the band is pure genius"

Come On Gang! are an Edinburgh based three piece with a line of catchy melodies that embed themselves in your head and refuse to leave for some time. They also have a singing female drummer which not only makes them stand out from the crowd, but shows that at both Peenko and Aye Tunes we like both females and people from Edinburgh. Fair warning - they recently made a man dance so hard he tore his trousers.

I Build Collapsible Mountains is another Edinburgh dweller. This mysterious singer songwriter is on the verge of releasing his debut mini album A Month of Lost Memories (out on October 13th on Peenko Records. Hang on...) and will be revealing his true face for us. Well, IBCM is really Luke Joyce, formerly of The Gothenburg Address and gifted photographer. But shh, don't tell anyone.

We try to put together a line up that is a bit different from the usual, no booking support bands that sound a bit like the headliners but not quite as good, which we've hopefully accomplished. All three bring something different to the table, and your ears, all we ask is that you bring the ears.

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko 3 takes place on the Fifth of November - if only there was some little rhyme you could use to stop yourself from forgetting the date - at The Classic Grand in Glasgow.
Tickets cost £6 and are available from Tickets Scotland, TicketWeb, Peenko, or by harassing either me or Lloyd by email or in person. If either of us bump into you over the next month or so we will try and sell you a ticket, so be warned.
Also, Facebook users can go here for the event page.



Tuesday, 28 September 2010

Return of the YAK

Give me an excuse to reference Mark Morrison in a post title and I'll take it.

You Already Know released their debut album Stop Whispering last year to much acclaim, it also scored a spot in the Aye Tunes favourite albums of 2009. Since the end of last year they've been fairly quiet, slipping out a tour CD and a very limited - and excellent - collection of cover versions for Record Store Day earlier this year. The quiet time has been well spent, whipping second album Petrol Money into shape.

Now that Petrol Money is finished, it is time for You Already Know to make a bit of noise again, something they do very well. Starting in October the first fruits of the second album will be released, under a series of digital singles.

YAK's Allan J Swan says "We have 3 tracks from the album we will be releasing as singles, each in the old 7" vinyl style of A-side + exclusive B-side. For £1 a month from October to December, we'll be offering up the finest instrumental riff-based music Scotland has ever offered up. And with all this being digital, you won't even have to brave the weather to get your fix. It just makes so much sense, i could cry."

The first single Boomstick will be backed with Into and Over You (Naked), an exclusive acoustic version of another album track. The single is set for release by ineedmusik.com in October and will be available exclusively on youalreadyknow.net. You can hear Boomstick below.

You Already Know are also set to make a return to gigging, with a show at The 13th Note on November 12th. Support comes from DeadOtter and Circle of Tyrants. Go.


<a href="http://yaktracks.bandcamp.com/album/boomstick">Boomstick by You Already Know</a>


Sunday, 26 September 2010

This Week's Gigs: 27th September - 3rd October

There seems to be very few posts in between the gig listings recently, I need to work on that. Particularly since there's a large pile of CDs to be reviewed which fall on me occasionally, not to mention digital stuff, which obviously doesn't fall on me. Ooh look, I'm babbling again, that's a sure sign I should get on with things.

Tuesday:
Martin Docherty. The Liquid Ship. Free

Thursday:
The Glad Cafe/45 A-side Records Present: Dam Mantle, Song Of Return, Conquering Animal Sound, Barn Owl, Detour DJs. Stereo. Tickets.
he Glad Cafe is a new venture being set up in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, which will host both a restraunt and and arts venue. To raise funds and awareness 45 A-Side Records are releasing a compilation album, with this gig being the launch, which features a ton of great bands, including those playing the gig. The record can be bought in advance here.

UWS Freshers Music Festival. Paisley Student Union. £4
As I've said before, Paisley gigs get plugs. As it happens that has a pretty good looking line up too, with the likes of Aspen Tide, Ryan Bisland, Kitty The Lion and Aeriels Up on the acoustic stage, while Carnivores, Pacific Theatre, LightGuides, Trapped In Kansas, Make Sparks and headliners Sucioperro gracing the main stage. Everything kicks off at 4.30pm, £4 entry, and non students can get in too, which is good news for me. Download a free sampler compilation of some of the bands taking part here.

Friday:
How To Swim launch their debut album Retina (or More Fun Than A Vat of Love) with this wee gig. As well as quality supports there has been cake promised. Entry will cost you £5, but for £10 you can get in AND get a copy of the album, so do that.

Music Like a Vitamin. HMV Picture House, Edinburgh.
Featuring solo sets from Karine Polwart and Scott Hutchison, along with a whole host of collaborative efforts.

Saturday:
Music Like a Vitamin. O2 ABC, Glasgow.
Like Edinburgh the night before expect a bunch of collaborations, plus solo sets from James Yorkston and Alasdair Roberts.

First Glasgow headline gig from French Wives since their ace performance at King Tut's a wee while ago. If you missed it then you can have a listen to a new French Wives song here, and get it as a free download on Monday.


Be a Familiar, Endor, Gdansk. Classic Grand.

Aberfedly, Second Hand Marching Band. Aberfeldy Town Hall.
Fancy seeing Aberfeldy in the place they take their name from? Now would be your chance.

Sunday:

As we hit October we also hit Oxjam season. Other Oxjam gigs will have to go some to beat the line up for this one though. The sensitive out there might want to bring earplugs.




Saturday, 25 September 2010

French WIves - Welcome, in the light

Oh look, Saturday night, The X Factor is on. Would you rather here something decent instead of some squealing harpies doing karaoke? You would? You are as big a snob as I am then, well done you. But I digress...
On Monday one of our favourites bands, French Wives, will be giving a new, previously unavailable song away for absolutely nothing, but before that they are giving Aye Tunes readers a chance to get a little preview. Welcome, in the light is available to stream below, then on Monday swing by the French Wives MySpace to find out how you can get your free download.


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

French Wives: MySpace - Shop



Hazy Recollections 4 - This Sunday

Looking for something to fill your Sunday afternoon? Something gig shaped? Well, why not have a look at the next Hazy Recollections gig then?
Hazy 4 takes place in Stereo on September 26th, which is tomorrow, unless you read this later in which case you've maybe missed it already, from 2pm until 6.

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

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

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



Wednesday, 22 September 2010

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

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

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


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



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


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

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




Sunday, 19 September 2010

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

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

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

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

Thursday:
Carnivores and Pacific Theatre launch their pretty excellent split single with a free gig in Bloc, joined by the brilliantly named Penguins Kill Polar Bears. Get down early, this should be a good one.
Darren Hayman, Gordon McIntyre (ballboy), Withered Hand. Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh.
I've got much less of a clue what is happening through in Edinburgh this week, but I do know that former Hefner frontman Darren Hayman is in town to play songs from his new album, with some excellent local support lending a hand. No hand pun intended.
Oh You Dancer launch night. The Admiral.
New club night Oh You Dancer kicks off, promising "an electro/ glitch/ 8-bit/ techno night of audio visual mayhem" with residents Daisuke joined by guests Data Rape and DJ Rambunctious. It all takes place between 11pm and 2am, and typing all that made me feel really quite old.

Friday:
Zoobiezaretta, White Heath. Captain's Rest. £2.
Zoobiezaretta finally have their album finished, and are playing a launch gig to celebrate. The album is, from the quick listen I've had to it, very good. For the Edinburgh launch gig see Saturday.
Pin Up Nights - Geek Night. The Flying Duck.
Once again it is Pin Ups time. This month's party has a geek theme, with Angelos Epithemiou from Shooting Stars as the guest DJ, and live sets from the ace BMovie Junkies, PAWS and Heart Beats.

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

Sunday:
Slow Club Mini Fest. The Flying Duck.
Loads of good folk playing at this, visit the Facebook page linked above for all the details.
Campfires In Winter, Little Doses, Dante. Captain's Rest.



Thursday, 16 September 2010

This one time, at Bandcamp...

Shameless, I know.

Last week music site Bandcamp announced a few changes to the way it would be working with free downloads. Reaction was mixed.
Basically instead of bands being able to offer unlimited free downloads of their music Bandcamp are going to set a cap, and beyond that bands and artists will have to buy a "Power Up" to offer more freebies. The packages offered were 300 downloads for $9 USD, 1000 downloads for $20 USD and 5000 downloads for $75 USD. In addition when a band makes $500 in sales their account will be topped up with another 1000 free downloads.
I get more music from Bandcamp that from anywhere else these days, and think it is a fantastic site. Obviously since I'm getting all that music there must be bands providing it, so I asked if anyone had any comments, here's what some had to say...
(Note: this post was delayed by the great computer meltdown of last weekend. In the meantime some changes have been made by Bandcamp, but I got comments before those changes)

Matthew Gilliland, Mondegreen
I'm a bit disappointed with bandcamp's new free download limitations. We haven't had that many downloads yet, but if we ever did get beyond 500, we would in effect have to pay for people to download our music for free. Which is obviously going to effect how we do things in the future.

My initial feeling on reading Bandcamp's latest news was, 'Oh you scallywags. You've blown it.' However, on reflection, these developments aren't really all that bad. Those of us who have been able to use Bandcamp completely free of charge up 'til now are lucky bastards.

Think about it. Bandcamp's whole interface is perfect. I can't think of another way to tart up what is effectively A BUNCH OF MP3s and somehow turn it into a cohesive, pretty... well... PRODUCT (sorry).

I currently give all my music away for free and have had about 300 downloads in six months. Smalltime Bandcamp users who, by the way, make up about 80% of Bandcamp's population, aren't really missing out. Existing users get a whole 500 free downloads.

It will cost you $20 to give away another 1000 downloads. Hardly breaking the bank. That's three pints in real money. Everybody cheer up. Streaming costs nothing, remember!

Better still, use this news as impetus to make better music, take more care over the packaging and, gasp, maybe charge £1 for an album or something (OMG)? It's made me really think about my music and whether giving it away for free is really a result of undervaluing the music we write. (I wouldn't hesitate in paying for great music on Bandcamp so why shouldn't other people?)

On the other side of the coin, however, I've no doubt that there are going to be Bandcamp-esque websites popping up all over the place. There will always be a way to give away your music for free. Thing is, will it be as goddamn awesome as Bandcamp's pretty revolutionary site? Hmmmm... I think I'll take the $20 a year hit. The Bandcamp pros FAR outweigh the cons. This was inevitable. Time to man up, folks.


Mark McG, The Girobabies
I think Bandcamp`s recent changes are slightly worrying for the long term. Bandcamp has been brilliant for us as a band up until now and at the moment we only sell our music exclusively online there . It gave us a chance to give away our `Jeremy Kyle` track for free to anyone in exchange for their e-mail address. Which helped us to build up a database of people who would potentially buy our CD ...and many of them did purchase when our `Social Not Working` E.P went up for sale on the bandcamp page. In the beginning we received 100% royalties. It all seemed a bit too good to be true, And of course it was.

Now they want to cap the amount of free material we give away (Or charge us for giving away free material) and take a 10% cut of royalties. That in itself is not enough to drive me away from Bandcamp. Its still an excellent service and has to make money somewhere but it does make me slightly concerned about their intention s for the future. Will the 200 cap be removed entirely? will the royaltys sneak up by 5% every couple of months? Fingers crossed this isn't the case as the last thing we need is another i-tunes.

There is two arguments here though. One is that artists should be entitled to give their music away for free. There is plenty other sites available to do that and there may be a couple due to pop up in the aftermath of Bandcamps free music cap. The other argument is that maybe Bandcamp will encourage more independent artists to sell their music rather than giving it away for free. If that was to become the norm again then maybe this would be a good thing for the music industry as a whole?


We loved it till the fee increase.. now we're just good friends. There was also potential to sidestep Ticketmaster for feeless local online ticket sales.. in combination with a pile of envelopes


Jim Connick, Aye Tunes
I've only ever used Bandcamp as a seller once, for tickets for the last Aye Tunes Vs Peenko gig. Like The Social Services I saw a lot of potential in using Bandcamp this way, sidestepping ridiculous booking, postage and mysterious service fees. Paypal takes a little slice of each payment, so by selling the tickets online I lost a little money, but only a little. Bandcamp now take a 15% share of sales, which means for the next AvsP gig I won't be repeating the experiment, since that 15% on top of the Paypal fees adds up to a decent slice of the ticket price, making it impractical for me to use. AvsP gigs don't make Peenko or I a profit, but neither of us can afford to take a financial hit from them either.
The more recent change was one I initially didn't like, but I could see the reasons for. I love my free music and I'm much more likely to take a chance on that new band I've stumbled across if there's no risk of feeling done, but at the same time Bandcamp lets me stream everything there too, if I have to pay for something I can listen to it first and make up my own mind if it is worth it. Bandcamp remains an excellent resource, for one thing it has let me stick songs in this post by all that contributed without having to bugger about with getting permission, uploading them myself and so on. I love how easy it is to integrate the Bandcamp player into a blog post, that's why if I can include it instead of an MP3, I will.

The Update
This is the part that Mark, Paul, Matthew and The Social Services didn't get a chance to comment on, as it was just announced yesterday.
As suggested by several of the commenters, we’re going to refresh everyone’s free download credits every month (so, if you have less than 200 downloads remaining, we’ll just bump you up to 200 again). This still accomplishes our goal of keeping the costs of large-scale free download campaigns where they should be (on the people actually doing them), while also giving early-stage artists room to comfortably get started.
Straight away this fixes the concerns the concerns that I'd had about the change. If your band is consistently pulling in more than those 200 free downloads a month you might still need to dip in to your pocket if you want to keep everything free, but if your band is clearing 200 a month then you are probably in a position where you can start asking for a little cash in return for your music. Turn five free downloads of your EP into 5 £2 sales of your EP and you should have made that $9 it'll cost for another 300 freebies. If you really want to make everything free without paying Bandcamp there's ways to do that too. There's plenty of file hosts around there that you can use for free. Hell, if you are that stuck I've got some hosting space, I'll give your music a home for a while. It won't have an interface as simple or pretty as Bandcamp does though.



Tuesday, 14 September 2010

This Week's Gigs: 14th - 19th September

Sometimes I really hate computers. If anyone has sent me anything in the last week or so it is going to take me a few days to find it again and do anything with it, but I'll get caught up eventually.
Anyway, we are running very late, so I'll just get on with the gig guide.

Tuesday:
Come On Gang! Here We Go Magic. Captain's Rest.
Come on Gang! reach Glasgow on their current tour, in support of the release of their new single Fortune Favours The Brave. If you haven't already done so, go download that, for free, over here. It is ace, and this gig is probably worth braving the abysmal weather for.
The Pattern Theory, Luz da Lua. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh.

Wednesday:
Detour Series 2 Launch. Bar Bloc+. Free.
Detour return to their spiritual home of Bloc to launch the second season of their podcasts and gig nights. The line up is a closely guarded secret, but the Detour gang can be counted on to never let you down.
No Rave Art School Freshers Party. The Vic Bar.
Featuring Ben Butler & Mousepad, Blood of the Bull and Holy Mountain live, with a Dam Mantle DJ set. Look, a flyer!

Thursday:
Some guy in a hat is in town, which may well make getting anywhere a bloody nightmare.
If you are in Glasgow then pop along to Waterstones on Sauchiehall St at 6.30 for the launch of Dougie's War, a new graphic novel by Rodge Glass and Dave Turbitt. Tickets for the launch are free, available from Waterstones.
Afterwards you could do worse than swing round the corner to Bloc where you'll find Galleries and Otherpeople doing a free gig.
Also on Thursday, Verse Metrics are playing Pivo Pivo.

Friday:
Oh Friday, once again you have too much on.
Aidan Moffat, Aidan Moffat and the Best Ofs, Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells. Paisley Arts Centre.
That's right, it is a rare good Paisley gig. Yes, Aidan Moffat really is supporting himself, supporting himself, as he'll be playing 3 different sets at the gig - one solo, one with The Best Ofs and one with Bill Wells.
Good one this one. The first single on Re:Peater Records is due out soon, a splint single with SHe'S HiT & Jacob Yates. Having heard it I highly advise keeping an eye out for it. I'll talk a bit more about the single in a few days though.
Mono Six. Capitol.
Rock Chic. SWG3. Tickets
Rock Chic is a live fashion and music event aiming to raise funds for the Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre at The Beatson, organised by the Poochetes from Pooch, who will also be playing on the night. Also playing live are Miaoux Miaoux, Attic Lights, The Soul Foundation, Figure 5 and a host of DJs. The night promises to be ‘one of the most fast-paced, edgy, glamorous events on the social calender’ with the music going hand in hand with fashion shows, cupcakes and lots more.

Saturday:
Hey Vampires, United Fruit, Cuss Words. Bloc. Free!
After a long hiatus Hey Vampires are back on the scene, which makes me a happy man.
The Paraffins riverside album launch. Glasgow.
No dull, boring album launch for The Paraffins, oh no. The Paraffins and a bunch of guests will be playing an open air gig next to the Clyde, round about where Barfly used to be (and if you don't know where Barfly used to be you've just made me feel very old). Unless it rains, then it;ll be under Central Station bridge. Everything kicks off at 2pm and promises to be done by 6. Should be a great way to spend your Saturday afternoon. Get all the details over on Facebook.
Another album launch, this one for The Last Battle's debut album Heart of the Land, Soul of the Sea. I'd love to tell you how ace the album is, but it is one of the things I can't get at at the moment, so I've not managed to hear it myself yet. I expect it to be rather good though, and there's some great supports for the launch.
Kid Canaveral, Night Noise Team. Sneaky Pete's. Edinburgh.
We had them in Glasgow last week, now Edinburgh gets their shot.
Looks like Saturday night in Edinburgh is a busy one then?

Sunday:
Probably not many better ways to finish off your weekend really.

That's your gig guide for the week, now cross your fingers that I can get my external hard drive to play nice again so I haven't lost six months worth of music...




Monday, 6 September 2010

COMPETITION - Win tickets to Kid Canaveral, Night Noise Team and The Cinnamons

Why run one competition at a time when you can do two?
I've got another pair of gig tickets to one lucky winner, this time for Friday's gig at The Captain's Rest with Kid Canaveral, Night Noise Team and The Cinnamons.

To enter just fill in the blank and email your answer to competition@ayetunes.org.uk
Question: The name of Kid Canaveral's last single was You Only Went Out To Get _____ Last Night.
Easy.
Competition closes at 5pm on Thursday when a winner will be drawn at random and informed they've won by email.




This Week's Gigs: 6th - 12th September

This week's gig guide should probably be sponsored by paracetamol, and is brought to you between bouts of being so, so cold, napping, and vomiting. In other words I'm ill, so this might be a bit shoddy this week. After writing the intro on Sunday I stopped being able to process information, so it is also late. I'm a wee bit better today, thanks for asking.

Monday:
Miaoux Miaoux, Wounded Knee. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh.
After an ace gig in Glasgow last week Edinburgh gets to have a wee shot of Miaoux Miaoux. His new single, Knitted, is out now and available at gigs or online. Buy an actual CD if you can, the hand knitted sleeves are lovely and proceeds go to charity. Wounded Knee is pretty splendid too, so this should be a good gig.

Tuesday:
Martin Docherty. Box, Glasgow.
Iain Morrison. The Real Mary King's Close, Edinburgh.
Singer-songwriter Iain Morrison (formerly of Crash My Model Car), will be playing a small intimate gig in the historic underground passageways of Mary King's Close in aid of Oxjam, a month long national music festival organised by people who know and love their local music scene, with all proceeds going to Oxfam UK. (Actually, I think this is already sold out)

Wednesday:
Sing-Kill-Worth, Boygirlanimalcolour, Mechanical Smile, Inner City Magicians. Stereo.
We like Boygirlanimalcolour loads round here.
Suspire, Mr Kil, Juan Pablo, Anavris. The Buff Club.
Dave Hughes. MacSoreleys.
Launch gig for Dave's new EP, Seven Songs, which you can hear and buy here.

Thursday:
Bands I like, put on by people I like. I've got a competition to win a pair of tickets to this gig, go here for details.

Friday:
Much goodness on show here. I've got a pair of tickets to give away for this too, go here to enter.
Come On Gang!, FOUND, Jesus H. Foxx. The Caves, Edinburgh.
Launch gig for the fab new Come On Gang! single, Fortune Favours The Brave, which I gushed about a wee bit here.
I know next to nothing about Slarffenland or Turning Plates to be honest, but The Social Services and How To Swim are both good.
Esperi, Noiserv, Finn Lemarinel, RM Hubbert. Secret Location, Glasgow. Buy tickets
The Remnant Kings, Tam's Railways, Black Riot Valves. The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh.

Sunday:
The Year of Open Doors, with Alan Bissett, Tawona Sitholé and Allan Wilson. Platform.
Another Year of Open Doors event, and another good one from the look of it. Entry is free, you can find more details over on Facebook.



Tuesday, 31 August 2010

COMPETITION - Win tickets to Kochka, Blue Sky Archives, Campfires in Winter and Jonathan Sebastian Knight

There's a rather good looking gig on next week featuring a handful of bands that we at Aye Tunes are rather fond of.
The gig takes place at The 13th Note on the 9th of September, that's a week on Thursday as I write this.
Gracing the stage are Kochka (whose Dacha/Summer House EP was reviewed and enjoyed lots here way back last November) Blue Sky Archives (who were also reviewed and enjoyed more recently) Campfires in Winter (who we liked enough to get to play the debut Aye Tunes Vs Peenko gig) and Jonathan Sebastian Knight.


It's all put on by onewordPResents, a joint venture by the chaps behind Define Pop promotions/radio and Scottish music blog/jeggings enthusiast The Daily Dose, and they have rather kindly given me a pair of tickets to give away.

To enter simply send an email to competition@ayetunes.org.uk with Kochka in the subject or message. That's all, dead easy eh?

Competition closes at 6pm on September 8th, then I'll draw a winner for the tickets at random.
Thanks everyone that entered, the competition is now closed and the winner will be informed by email shortly.

Good Luck!



Sunday, 29 August 2010

This Week's Gigs: 30th August - 5th Spetember

Sunday. Gig Guide. Blah. You know the deal by now. As usual there's a fair old amount on this week, so on we go.

Monday:
The Year of Open Doors - Burnt Island, Adrian Crowley, King Creosote. Highland Park Spiegletent (tickets)
Launch night for The Year of Open Doors audiobook, available now from Chemikal Underground. For more details on The Year of Open Doors go read the post I wrote a few days ago. The previously secret performer has been announced, as King Creosote joins the line up.
Shambles Miller & others. Pivo Pivo. Free.

Tuesday:
Miaoux Miaoux, Fox Gut Daata & "Special Guest". Captain's Rest, £5.
Launch gig for the gorgeous new Miaoux Miaoux single, Knitted, which will be available to buy on CD in lovely limited hand knitted sleeves. I'm quoted on the gig poster, so you know it'll be good (go ahead and imagine a winking emoticon there if you want) I have my suspicions who the special guest is, but I'm probably not allowed to say. If it is who I think it is he was rather good at the gig I was at on Saturday though. (Update: I was right with my guess, Adam Stafford is your mystery guest,and I'm allowed to say so now.)
Scragfight, The Cemetery Girls, The Plimptons. 13th Note.

Wednesday:
Enchantment Under The Sea - The Belle Hops, The Power Cut Choir and YOU. Bloc, free.
YOU? What? Over to the blurb about the gig - "In between bands: Teen Heart Throb Open Mic: YOU sing songs from the repertoire of history's teen heart throbs. From Buddy Holly to Boyzone, from the Shangri-Las to the Spice Girls, it's up to you! And we'll give you sweeties as a reward!"

Thursday:
The Winter Tradition, Little Yellow Ukuleles, Galleries. Captain's Rest.
The band formerly known as The Void launch their new single, with support from a couple of Aye Tunes favourites. For a chance to win tickets visit our blog buddy Favourite Son.
Amy Duncan. Roxy Art House, Edinburgh.
Launch gig for Amy's new album, Potential-Space.

Friday:
The Hardy Boys, The Recovery Club. Pivo Pivo.
Another launch gig, this time for a new EP from The Hardy Boys.
Beerjacket, Panda Su. Oran Mor. £6.
Rescheduled from June, a Beerjacket gig gets an automatic recommendation round here. As an added bonus Panda Su is brilliant too.
Gorman, Revelry Thieves. The Vale, £8.

Saturday:
Zola Jesus, Conquering Animal Sound, Midnight Lion. Captain's Rest. £7.
Zola Jesus were one of the artists that said they'd be playing at Indian Summer, but since that isn't happening you can find her in The Captain's Rest instead, along with locals supports, one of whom Aye Tunes loves, and the other one we really don't. No prizes for matching names to descriptions.
Second Hand Marching Band, eagleowl, Benni Hemm Hemm. The Tunnels, Aberdeen. £6 advance.
Three smashing bands, and to entice the people of Aberdeen along there's a free download of them all available here. I've mangled that sentence completely, the download is of the bands, not of all the people of Aberdeen.
The Winter Tradition, LightGuides, Your Neighbour The Liar. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh. £5.
Edinburgh leg of the Firelight single launch, and again you have a chance of winning tickets from Favourite Son.


Sunday:
Zola Jesus, Conquering Animal Sound, Dead Boy Robotics. Roxy Art House, Edinburgh.
Lucky Edinburgh get two good support bands.
Words Per Minute - WPM4. Creation Studios, 3.30pm, £3.
This month's line up for Words Per Minutes is an almost all female affair. Joining hosts Kirsten and Anneliese are Zorras, Sian Bevan, Kirsty Logan, Kirsty Neary and and Arches Live showcase with Skye Loneragan and Georgina Porteous. The regular DJ set from Miaoux Miaoux is all that keeps the line up from being all female. As usual get along early.


Gig Submissions:
Just a reminder, there's now a dedicated email to send gig details to. The gig guide takes a surprisingly long time to put together every week and involves me trawling through venue websites, band websites, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. To try and make my life a wee bit easier, if you have something you want included send an email to gigs@ayetunes.org.uk including at least the date, the venue and the bands playing (along with a link to their website, MySpace or whatever). If you can tell me how much it'll cost to get in that's good too.



Friday, 27 August 2010

Frightened Rabbit - Live in San Francisco

Just because there's an embed code available and because I've not got anything else ready to post today beow you can watch a full live Frightened Rabbit gig. Enjoy.




Wednesday, 25 August 2010

Review: Carnivores/Pacific Theatre - Split Single

I don't know, you spend half your time complaining there's nothing decent in Paisley then two bands come at you at once. Carnivores and Pacific Theatre have both been around for a while now, steadily making names for themselves from regular gigging, now they have teamed up to release a split single together. Both bands hail from Paisley, and both have three members, but there the similarities end.

Carnivores contribute Five Go Mad On Mescaline, a vicious warning about abusing ketamine. It is a ferocious little number, all snarls and shouts, distorted guitars and pounding guitars, that rattles along at a fair old pace, like a three and a half minute adrenaline rush. Lurking amongst the noise is an excellent song too, with hooks and melodies forcing themselves to the forefront, demanding attention and worming their way into your head. If the title's nod to The Comic Strip didn't give it away already then the lyrics confirm that Carnivores have no shortage of wit about them either. Five Go Mad on Mescaline isn't terribly subtle, but it is fun and thrilling, and a far better use of your money than dodgy horse tranquilizers.

Pacific Theatre's half of the split single, Was There Distance? is much more restrained in comparison, providing a nice bit of variety. Pacific Theatre aim more for the anthemic, and Was There Distance? certainly comes close, while happily avoiding clichés or sounding too much like the band's influnces. Certain other bands ploughing the same furrows would kill for a song as catchy as Was There Distance? and certainly for its harmony laden sing along chorus. Lovely stuff.

Carnivores: MySpace
Pacific Theatre: MySpace

Five Go Mad On Mescaline/Was There Distance is released on September 20th on CD and download. There is a launch gig on Speterber 23rd at Bloc, with special guests Penguins Kill Polar Bears. Entry is free, so get down early!

Carnivores


Tuesday, 24 August 2010

The Year of Open Doors

The Year of Open Doors is a collection of short stories, edited by Rodge Glass and published by Cargo Publishing. If the name of the book sounds familiar that might be down to regular mentions of launch events in the weekly gig guide, usually followed by a promise of me doing a full post on it later.
I have a strange definition of later.
I've finally finished reading the book, but rather than carry on promising that post and failing to get it done, this will be a bit of a bare bones run down of The Year of Open Doors.

If it seems a bit odd that I'm posting about a book on what is generally a music blog, then firstly shut up, I can post what I like and a bit of culture won't hurt you. Secondly, there's a fair bit of crossover involved between the book and the music World.
Editor Rodge Glass is also the frontman in Burnt Island - who we really like around here - and other contributors include Doug Johnstone, a member of Fence Collective band Northern Alliance, Kevin MacNeil, who has recorded music with Willie Campbell of Astrid and The Reindeer Section as well as delivering the opening monologue on the open track of the debut album by There Will Be Fireworks. Then there's Aidan Moffat, who is, well, Aidan Moffat.

There's a couple of other familiar names to Aye Tunes readers on the list of contributors too, in the shape of Kirsten Innes and Anneliese Mackintosh, the minds behind Words Per Minute.

Anyway, back to the book itself. The Year of Open Doors collects new short stories from some of the best writer in Scotland, though not necessarily Scottish. Some of those writers are familiar, some are brand new, but refreshingly everyone gets the same treatment, there's no star billing or any of that nonsense going on. The mixture of races, nationality and gender of the contributors is nice to see too. More importantly than all of that, The Year of Open Doors is a cracking read too. Cargo are a fairly new publisher who have aimed high with this collection, to me at least they've hit the target too. Reward their enthusiasm and ambition by picking up the book!

There's one more musical crossover too, as Cargo Publishing have teamed up with Chemikal Underground to release an audiobook version, you can buy that here.

The audiobook is available now and there's a launch night for it on Monday, also the closing night of Unbound at the Edinburgh Book Festival. Performing on the night are Burnt Island, Adrian Crowley and a currently Top Secret musical mystery guess (it isn't Cher, or Rod Stewart, but beyond that I have no idea) as well as readings from a few of the authors of The Year of Open Doors. That all takes place Highland Park Spiegletent on August 30th, from 7 - 11pm, pick up tickets here.


The Year of Open Doors is available from bookshops, funnily enough. It is also available online direct from Cargo, or from Amazon in hardback, or for the Kindle.



Monday, 23 August 2010

Retreat!

This weekend in Edinburgh there's a very swanky wee two day event on, which I highly advise checking out if you can.
Tickets for Saturday are sold out already, day tickets for Sunday are almost gone and there aren't an awful lot of weekend tickets left either, so pick yours up in advance. You can get them here: Weekend - Saturday SOLD OUT - Sunday

Below is pretty much all the info you'll need, but if you want any more you can find Retreat! on MySpace and Facebook too.

As a bonus there's a sampler album featuring pretty much all of the bands playing available to download for FREE here.

Pilrig St Paul’s Church, Edinburgh

August 28-29 2010, 2.30pm-11pm.

GBP 7 (day); GBP 12 (weekend pass).

Venerable DIY gig-putteronners Tracer Trails and The Gentle Invasion are thrilled to announce the third edition of Retreat!, a micro-festival celebrating Edinburgh’s contribution to the international pop underground.

Following on from previous years which have seen the festival occupy spaces in St John’s Church and the Bristo Hall, this year’s Retreat! will be a two-day event taking place in Pilrig St Paul’s Church Hall, on the boundary between Edinburgh and the City of Leith.

Retreat! was founded in 2008 to create space for Edinburgh acts amid the bustle of the festivals, and has evolved into a riotous A.G.M. for the capital’s independent pop scene.

In its inaugural year Retreat! encompassed nine events over three weeks; in 2009 it took the form of a giant celebratory all-dayer as part of the Forest Fringe. Retreat! 2010 is different again, a lost weekend when Edinburgh’s first XVI will perform in a deranged gala-day environment in which anything might happen and some things probably will.

Hosted by the incomparable Owen Curtis Williams (The Pineapple Chunks / drummer-about-town), and with stage design by Tessa Lynch, the only common thread in this vibrant melange is the organisers’ overwhelming respect for each act’s inimitable contribution to the international pop underground.

Retreat! stands for: -

• cheap cheap tickets
• all-ages admission
• the most extravagant staging and costumery no money can buy
• film screenings, record stalls, book stalls, and food!

This year Retreat! is supported by the Scottish Arts Council Young Scot Action Fund.

Line Up:

Saturday 28th August
2.30pm-11pm

eagleowl
7VWWVW
Wounded Knee
Skeleton Bob
FOUND
Jesus h. Foxx
Withered Hand
Enfant Bastard

Sunday 29th August
2.30pm-11pm

Benni Hemm Hemm
Conquering Animal Sound
The Wee Rogue
The Douglas Firs
Milk
Meursault
The Leg





Sunday, 22 August 2010

This Week's Gigs: 23rd - 29th August

Sunday afternoon, time for me to lose several hours of my day to scouring social networks to find out what gigs are on this week as usual.
It's a bit of a lopsided week this week, every bugger in Glasgow seems to have decided to put a gig on on Friday.
To make life a bit simpler for me there's a new email address you can send gig details to if you want them included in the weekly guide, I'll stick the details in at the end.

Tuesday:
Foxgang Presents: Festival Special. Bristo Hall, above The Forest Cafe, Edinburgh. Free.
Foxgang take matters in to their own hands by putting on a special little gig. As well as Foxgang themselves playing live are French Wives, Washington Irving, White Heath, Fiction Faction and Sebastian Dangerfield. All for free. Even better, there's a compilation album featuring a track from each band available, courtesy of the Kowalskiy blog, here.

Wednesday:
A Band Called Quinn, May68, Epic26. King Tut's.
I'm sure there's more numbers in that line up than is really needed. A Band Called Quinn are really, really good though.

Thursday:
The Red Show. Pivo Pivo.

Friday:
Ah Friday, you swine. This is an insane amount of gigs to have on in the one night.
No Dancing: Adam Stafford, RM Hubbert, Deathpodal, PAWS. Stereo.
This one looks excellent, so much so I gave it a preview of its very own previously. You can find that here, it has songs to listen to and stuff.
Pin Up Nights - Helicon, How Garbo Died & More TBA. The Flying Duck.
In addition to the two bands announced there'll be others, and all the usual Pin Ups DJs and hijinx. There's a free download of Helicon's 2009 EP Take The Ride available here at the moment too.
Mix Up Mayhem 3: Pooch, Nevada Base, Any Color Black. Creation Studios. £5 (BYOB)
If I can somehow split myself in half I'll be along to this as well as No Dancing, as it too should be excellent. Three cracking bands, who will play their own songs, a cover of each other's songs and another cover too. If the last one is anything to go buy Creation Studios also gets to around the same heat as the Sun. You need to bring your own booze, but you might get free sweets.
Sons & Daughters, She'S HiT. Captain's Rest.
It has been quite a while since I've seen Sons & Daughters, but I'm already committed to being elsewhere, so it'll need to be even longer before I see them. S&D's Scott Patterson will be pulling double duty on the night, as he is also in She'S HiT, who have a new single out at the start of October. More on that single a bit later.
Call Me Ishmael, Sondura, Hercules Mandarin, The Scruffs. King Tut's.

Saturday:
Retreat! Pilrig St Paul's Church Hall, Leith Walk.Pilrig Street, Edinburgh.
Taking place over Saturday & Sunday, I'll be going in to a wee bit more detail on this during the week. You can find out pretty much everything you need to know on the website, and pick up a free sampler of some of the bands playing here.
Kitty The Lion, Tango in the Attic, more TBA. Stereo. £5

Sunday:
Mogwai, Moon Unit. Stereo. £10.
Pretty much announced just as I'm writing the gig guide, tickets are available here and from Monorail from Monday. Don't expect any to be available on the door. Proceeds from the gig go to Lanarkshire Cancer Trust, and to aid flood victims in Pakistan.
Fiona Soe Pang, Hidden Orchestra. Roxy Art House, Edinburgh.
Live music, film and probably some other stuff too. More details on this flyer.

Gig Submissions:
As mentioned at the start, there's now a dedicated email to send gig details to. The gig guide takes a surprisingly long time to put together every week and involves me trawling through venue websites, band websites, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. To try and make my life a wee bit easier, if you have something you want included send an email to gigs@ayetunes.org.uk including at least the date, the venue and the bands playing (along with a link to their website, MySpace or whatever). If you can tell me how much it'll cost to get in that's good too.



Monday, 16 August 2010

Round Up Reviews #4

The point of Round Up Reviews is to cover stuff I don't have a chance to give a bigger write up to - or have enough to say about - but still want to give a mention to. Singles, the odd demo track and the like all get lumped into one post rather than slip through the cracks.
It has been a little over a month since the last one of these, and I've picked up a ton of stuff to get through in that time. History suggests I'll call lots of things "gorgeous", I should really get hold of a thesaurus.

Dems - Lioness
This was meant to be in the last batch of reviews, but I forgot, as I'm an eejit. Dems previously got a nod in Round Up Reviews #2, where I loved his previous release Jarndyce Vs Jarndyce. Since then he's moved back to London from Edinburgh, but so long as quality works keeps coming out Dems are always welcome on Aye Tunes. Make no mistake, this is quality work. Inspired in part by Big Cat Week on the BBC, this is just gorgeous. Lush production that manages to have all sorts of interesting things going on without being overwhelming or busy and downright beautiful vocals. Lioness is one of those songs that perks me up instantly if I'm a wee bit miserable. I've played this song to death over the past month and a bit and I'm nowhere near tired of it yet, nor will I be any time soon.
Lioness is available as a free download from Bandcamp.

Trapped Mice - Secret Letters
Once again something I've been meaning to mention for ages. I'm really not the best at staying on top of things, but I digress. Trapped Mice are fairly new Edinburgh band - they just played their first gig a little over a week ago - who make lo-fi folk tinged music. They happen to make it very well too. There's a few songs available, of which Secret Letters is my pick of the bunch, but the rest are well worth investigating too. Secret Letters starts off fairly gently before building to a glorious crescendo by the end. Pretty much a lovely wee song, check it out.
Secret Letters is available as a free download here.

Beldina O - By Candlelight II
Beldina O is another artist that's popped up in these before, with her song Chariots featured last time. Since then a few songs have made their way on to Beldina's Bandcamp page, including this one, which I didn't have last time round. By Candlelight is another cracking wee song. Sparse and stripped back the song is carried by a fairly simple bit of organ and a luscious vocal. Distinctive and enchanting, this is really lovely.
By Candlelight II - and a few other songs - can be downloaded free from Bandcamp.

Aaron Wright - Go On Yerself
A cheery wee upbeat folky pop song, I'd be lying if I thought this was particularly fresh or innovative, but it is fun, and Aaron's charisma gives things a bit of kick. Perfectly pleasant throughout, with a whole lot of charm. Also - a bit of a brass breakdown in the middle, and handclaps, two things that'll almost always get me to enjoy a song. Fun stuff, and it made me smile.
Help yourself to a free download of Go On Yerself here.

Boygirlanimalcolour - Batman Forever
Boygirlanimalcolour released an EP - Let's Get Forgotten - ages ago and I don't think I ever got round to mentioning it like I meant to, so I'm picking a song at random to write about before I forget again. Batman Forever is a bit like the film, it is loud, messy at times and pretty chaotic. Unlike the film there's a balance with (slightly) more restrained moments to save things from being a complete assault on the senses, and the end result ends up being a highly effective little sugar rush of punky powerpop, before everything breaks down into cowbell driven insanity at the end. Brilliant, unlike the film.
Let's Get Forgotten is available to download free here.

Lovers Turn To Monsters - Batman Forever
Kyle Wood from BGAC also has his own long running - and terrifyingly prolific - solo thing going on under the name of Lovers Turn To Monsters which I don't mention nearly enough. Recently Kyle wrote and recorded and EP - The Pain and the Ghosts - in the space of three hours. For good measure he threw in a cover of Batman Forever so for a laugh let's compare his solo acoustic version to BGAC's. The song works pretty well stripped down to it's bear bones actually. The sense of fun of the song is replaced my a more delicate and mournful feeling, but is just as enjoyable in its completely different form.
The Pain and the Ghosts is available to download free here. While you are there get loads more Lovers Turn To Monsters stuff, it is very good.

Come on Gang! - Fortune Favours The Brave
Come on Gang! make music that is impossible to stay still through. Upcoming single Fortune Favours The Brave doesn't disappoint on that score. Fast, frantic and catchy as f*ck, Fortune favours The Brave is everything pop music should be. The song grabs you from the off and doesn't let go for three minutes forty five seconds, which if you don't smile and at least bob your head about a bit during then you probably have no soul and don't find pleasure in anything. Just be careful, last time I saw Come on Gang! live I witness a man dance so hard he ripped his own trousers. If that isn't a recommendation I don't know what is.
Fortune Favours The Brave is released on September 10th, with a launch gig at The Caves is Edinburgh on the same night.

Don't be surprised to see Round Up Reviews #5 by the end of the week, there's still a pile of stuff I've not touched that I need to come back to, not to mention umpteen things awaiting full reviews. If you have something you'd like included don't hesitate to get in touch.



Sunday, 15 August 2010

This Week's Gigs: 16th - 23rd August

It is Sunday afternoon, so it is time once again to have a look around and see what is on this week.

All Week:
Haarfest.
Taking place all week in Anstruther is Fence's latest festival type thing, Haarfest.
From Monday to Thursday there's live music from 8pm in the Hew Scott Hall, then on Friday and Saturday the action switches to Cellardyke Town Hall.

Monday:
The Social Services, Open Swimmer, Bear Bones. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh

Tuesday:
Withered Hand, The Last Battle. Electric Circus, Edinburgh. £6.

Thursday:
The Social Services, Open Swimmer, Bear Bones. Nice 'n' Sleazy.

Friday:
The Hugh Reed Explosion, The Girobabies. The Pandora, Victoria Road. Free.
Juan Pablo, Kerrie Lynch, Julia and the Doogans, So Many Animal Calls. 13th Note. £5.
Quite an eclectic line up, with a good selection of bands we like round here. Should be fun.
Black International & others. Henry's Cellar Bar, Edinburgh. £5.

Saturday:
Sonic Soak: Govanhill Baths.
Not often you get a gig in a swimming pool. This two day event (it continues on Sunday) rectifies that by having gigs in a swimming pool. Visit Facebook for the full line up and ticket details.
The Ghosties. O2 Academy

Sunday:
Rock 'n' Roll Damnation: Pareto, .scores, 3 Times Over. King Tut's. £5 (Buy from Pareto for £3)
Unbound: The Year of Open Doors. Highland Park SpiegelTent, Edinburgh.
Our pals from the literary World have another wee event to celebrate the release of The Year Of Open Doors. To find out more about the book, and to buy a copy, visit Cargo Publishing.