Spotlight: Mondegreen

Time for another interview.

Having stalked Mondegreen online ever since they were The Covergirls and seen them more than a few times I figured it was finally time to sneak out from the bushes outside their homes and ask them a few questions. Sadly none of them answered "Can I come out, it is freezing in that bush" in the affirmative. Singer & guitarist Matthew was good enough to answer other questions too though, with Allan lending a hand.

Who are Mondegreen?

A three-headed beast with Allan on bass

Fraser on drums

and me (Matthew) on guitar.

What do you sound like?

The short answer is: three guys trying to make the most of a cowbell, a root note and a fuzz pedal.
The longer answer is: Stephen Malkmus trying to cover Pet Sounds with John Densmore on drums and Kim Deal on bass.

How did you all get together, and what made you stay together?

We're a test-tube band, cobbled together from wanted ad respondees. Fraser and I were in a band called The Covergirls and we had an opportunity to record at Chem19 with the Scottish Arts Council. We were short of a bass player and Allan fitted in real fast. By this point I was the only original member of The Covergirls left, and some folk suggested we change the name. I suggested Mondegreen and I think it's finally grown on us a bit.

A mondegreen is, usually at least, a misheard song lyric, do you have a favourite one?

"Even the greatest arse/Live their lives in the looking glass". That's Kraftwerk of course. One of my friends pointed out a mondegreen in one of our songs: "You draw paintings on smelly faeces". It's actually "You draw paintings and smiley faces".

Allan: Myself and Matt went to see Blue Sky Archives in Bloc the other night and I thought their last song had the lyrics "we're right wing to the core" repeated as the outro. I'm guessing that was a mondegreen at least!

The Headless EP was recorded at Chem19, how did that come about, and how was it recording there?

I emailed Chemikal Underground to ask if they'd record and release our concept album about a guy with no head, not expecting a reply. I think they admired my boldness, and they fitted us in on their Arts Council demo fund.
We had two days there with Jamie Savage and the result was an abbreviated version of the initial Headless album idea, so we had a friend draw up some artwork, and we punt it around as an EP. (Jim: which you can download here, and listen to down the bottom)

Chemikal Underground's Stewart Henderson recently said he has "a real soft spot" for the band, so presumably you behaved yourself while in Chem19 at least.

I know, we saw that, and it was very nice of him. We have a lot of fun in this band but we also work very hard, so it's cool to hear people saying nice things about what we're doing. I'll always remember our visit there because it was right at the beginning of that freezing snowy winter, and I thought we were going to get snowed in at Chem19.

Since we are getting alarmingly close to the end of the year let's go all "year in review" style and ask what, if anything, have been highlights for the band this year?

I think the highlight for us was the road trip to Aberdeen in the summer. It was our first and only gig outside Glasgow, and we played at Cellar 35 with Min Diesel and Pensioner. Fraser's car clapped out somewhere near Brechin, and we got a flat tyre not long after. We had a great night and a great show, and some of us had to sleep in the car outside the venue, but it was definitely the highlight of the year.

Allan: Not forgetting that Fraser actually used his cowbell to bash the tire iron when changing the wheel!

Any moments you'd rather forget about?

Really racking my brains here but I can't think of anything that's gone monstrously wrong. The year is not out yet though...

What other bands around at the moment would you recommend?

ULTIMATE THRUSH!

Allan: Quite partial to Fat Goth from Dundee and Min Diesel from Aberdeen. And Ultimate Thrush obviously.

What bands would you avoid like the plague?

We saw this one guy playing 13th Note one night. He had a guitar and a couple of loop pedals and he just made noise for half an hour. I don't have a problem with that but I have tinnitus and I didnae have my ear plugs so I had to be rude and leave.

Allan: I saw a band do an entire 20 minute set where all the did was constantly attempt to tune their guitars. There were no songs, no banter, just tuning for 20 solid minutes. I'm not sure if they did it on purpose or not.

What do you have planned for the next few months?

We're recording our album with Ross McGowan at Chime Studio, so maybe with another couple of visits we could have it all done, and there's a gig at Tut's to look forward to on December 15th. We're planning to host our own nights starting January 13th in Stereo, if that goes well we'll attempt it more often. Apart from that, I think we'll be buttoning up our coats and keeping warm.

Finally, quirky interview questions, fun and harmless, or generally a bit of a waste of time?

Fun and harmless. “It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information” - Oscar Wilde.

Mondegreen: MySpace - Facebook

Aye Tunes Readers' Poll 2010

We've come to that time of the year where a bunch of people obsess over lists of our favourite things of the year, while other people mock us for our obsessing over said lists.

In addition to putting together my own "Best of" lists I thought it might be fun (it may well not be fun, but let's see) to ask the people that read my blethering what they think too. That would be you, dear reader.

Quickie rules & regulations type things:

• Answer or skip whatever questions you want, but if a bunch of people answer one question with the same answer it'll be pretty obvious ballot stuffing.
• No ballot stuffing! If it isn't obvious I probably won't notice it though.
• You can choose up to three answers for each question, try and put them in order, 1 being best, 2 second best, blah blah blah.
• You can vote for bands, albums etc from anywhere, they don't have to be Scottish.
• Polls close on December 19th, after that I'll count up the results.
• This is meant to be a wee bit of fun, so don't moan about the results when posted!
• I won't keep your name/email address or any other info once the poll is done, unless you tell me to.

My attempt at putting together a fancy voting form failed miserably, so I'm afraid you'll have to do a wee bit of work. Copy/paste the stuff below and stick it in an email to poll@ayetunes.org.uk and I'll do the rest.

Aye Tunes Readers' Poll 2010

Best Band:

1.

2.

3.

Best Solo Artist:

1.

2.

3.

Best New Band/Solo Artist: (New is very subjective, if you first heard of them this year, that'll do)

1.

2.

3.

Best Live Band:

1.

2.

3.

Best Album:

1.

2.

3.

Best Single/EP: (Basically anything that isn't an album)

1.

2.

3.

Best Music Blog/Website: (Aye Tunes isn't eligible for this. Partly to avoid accusations, partly to stop me seeing how few would have said it anyway)

1.

2.

3.

Best Music Radio Show/Podcast:

1.

2.

3.

Best Venue:

1.

2.

3.

Best Gig: (as in, best one you've been at this year, just in case you were confused)

1.

2.

3.

Your Name:

Where You Are From:

That'll do I think. Feel free to tell your pals about the poll!

This Week's Gigs: 29th November - 5th December (Take Two)

This week's gig guide was a bloody disaster area, so I've junked it and done it again. I think I've just about fixed everything that was on the wrong day now, or had an incorrect line-up. If anything is still knackered only tell me if you want to make me weep.

Incidentally, why do some gig venues make it flipping impossible for you to find out what gigs are happening there?

You might have noticed, but there's been some snow. Best check gigs are going ahead before you head off to them.

Monday:

Ringo Deathstar, Ursula Minor, The Rioteers. 13th Note.

Tuesday:

Pacific Theatre, Energy!. King Tut's (Tickets)

Songs For Autism. St Andrew's In The Square.

Special event with Duglas Stewart, The BMX Bandits, AJ Roach and The Porch Song Anthology.

(UPDATE: A victim of the weather, this has been cancelled and will be rescheduled)

Birdhead, The Red Show, Shooting Stansfield. Pivo Pivo.

Wednesday:

Windlestray, We See Lights, Craig Joe Davidson, The Last Battle. The Lot, Edinburgh.

Fun fact, I spent a good five minutes there stuck on Disney websites till I figured out what the Last Battle's website address is.

Lorraine McCauley And The Borderlands. Coda Music, Edinburgh. 6pm

This is a wee launch night for Lorraine McCauley And The Borderlands debut EP, Haunt Me. If I wasn't months behind on my reviews I'd have told you already that the EP is very good indeed, but since I am that's as best as I can do right now. Note the early start, get along for some songs, mince pies and mulled wine.

Aspen Tide, Mechanical Smile, Reykjavik. The 13th Note.

Aspen Tide show off an impressive work ethic by cramming in two gigs in one night, as they are also playing Frankenstein's in Glasgow. Not sure where they'll be on first, so keep an eye on the band's Facebook for details and cheap tickets for the two gigs.

Aspen Tide, The Darien Venture, Ghost Ride The Whip, Kid Fire. Frankenstein Glasgow.

That'll be the other gig I mentioned above. The Darien Venture are ace too.

(UPDATE: Another one hit by the weather, as The Darien Venture have been forced to pull out)

Supermarionation, Otaku, Lee Patterson. Electric Circus, Edinburgh

Thursday:

Super Adventure Club, PAWS, Hagana, Rollor. 13th Note.

Probably the gig I'm most eager to get to this week. Super Adventure Club and PAWS are both consistently entertaining, but I've yet to see Hagana or Rollor.

Porch Song Anthology and Special Guests. Brel.

The Porch Song Anthology play a launch gig for their new single, Christmas Is Cold. You might be able to guess what Thursday's Christmas song here is then.

Aspen Tide, Carnivores, Kid Fire, Your First Mistake. Frankenstein's Edinburgh.

Aspen Tide get around again, this time joined by Carnivores, who we like lots.

Menomena, TAMARYN, Mitchell Museum, Fur Hood. The Arches.

Cancel The Astronauts, The OK Social Club, The Nature Boys, Underclass and Maydays. the Caves, Edinburgh.

Yahweh, Emily Scott, Union Canal. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh.

Friday:

Fightened Rabbit, Sky Larkin, Admiral Fallow. Barrowlands.

The first of two sold out Barras shows for Frightened Rabbit. Guess who waiting too long to buy tickets for either? Bah, humbug. Get down early for Admiral Fallow, I insist.

Three Long Words, smallPRINT, The Industry, The Koves. Studio 24, Edinburgh.

Launch gig for Edinburgh youngsters Three Long Words new single.

Gerry Loves Xmas. The Banshee Labrynth, Edinburgh. (Tickets)

Gerry Loves Records are having a Christmas party, with the rather bloody good line-up of The Japanese War Effort, Fox Gut Daata, Miaoux Miaoux, Wounded Knee, Conquering Animal Sound and Yahweh.

Glasgow Popfest: Day One. SWG3.

Click the poster to make it bigger, more details and ticket info here.

Saturday:

Limbo Christmas Party. The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh.

There's a very tasty line-up for this once. The night promises shorter, unique sets and collaborations from FOUND, Night Noise Team, Inspector Tapehead, Yusuf Azak, Les Enfant Bastard and Andy Brown's Victorian Karaoke.

Song Of Return, Olympic Swimmers. Flat 0/1.

You Say Party, Skibunny. Captain's Rest (Tickets)

Ghosts of Progress, Annie Stevenson, The Celestians, Masters of the Seas, The Fold, Two Rivers. Pivo Pivo.

More details on ye olde Facebook.

Verse Metrics, The Detours, Sing-Kill-Worth. The Classic Grand.

Glasgow Popfest: Day Two. SWG3.

See Friday, just a couple of lines above.

Sunday:

Glasgow Popfest: Day Three. Stereo.

Again, see above. The most tempting day for me since it is the day with the most bands I know, and like. All three look pretty decent though.

Jer Reid's Winter Cycle

Jer Reid has been doing music things for quite a while. Recently he’s been playing quite a bit with dance – both written and improvised, and been improvising with various music people. He also plays guitar with Issho Taiko Drummers.

Starting on December 5th Jer Reid is setting out to do a 31 day series of improvised duos.

The full list of dates and contributors (so far) is below:

Sunday 5th December – Cloudberry MacLean
Monday 6th – Jack Figgis
Tuesday 7th – Dougal Marwick
Wednesday 8th – RM Hubbert
Thursday 9th – Christine DeVaney
Friday 10th – Michael Marshall
Saturday 11th – Howie Reeve
Sunday 12th – Cheer
Monday 13th – Laurie Pitt
Tuesday 14th – Michael Sherin
Wednesday 15th – Fritz Welch
Thursday 16th – Jenny Soep
Friday 17th – Stevie Jones
Saturday 18th – P6
Sunday 19th – Wounded Knee
Monday 20th – Shane Connolly
Tuesday 21st – Luke Sutherland
Wednesday 22nd – Nerea Bello
Thursday 23rd – Robin Mason
Friday 24th – Rosalind Masson
Saturday 25th – Lisa Fannen
Sunday 26th – Jodi Cave
Monday 27th – Jamie Grier
Tuesday 28th – Iain Campbell
Wednesday 29th – Chris Storey
Thursday 30th – Joseph L. Quimby Jr
Friday 31st – Rafe Fitzpatrick
Saturday 1st January – tbc!
Sunday 2nd – Dave Powell
Monday 3rd – Xana Marwick
Tuesday 4th – Monica de Ioanni

All shows take place in Stereo at mid day, with the exception of December 25th, January 1st and January 2nd which take place at the same time at The Flying Duck.

Entry to each show is only £1, or £4 for a week ticket and £15 for the whole cycle. Tickets are available from Stereo.

You can find more details here, and there's a nice wee flyer you can download here.

Spotlight: Black International

Photos by Claire Thomson

Getting a wee bit better at this interviewing lark. This time around Edinburgh three piece Black International join us for the latest Aye Tunes Inquisition.

Who are Black International?

We’re three white males named Gavin Hargin, Stewart Allan and Craig Peebles who’ve all enjoyed reasonably comfortable upbringings and have, relatively speaking, nothing to complain about.

What do you sound like?

Aggressive, primitive, noisy, melodic, nervy... Like dirty broken glass. All the instruments get equal space, it’s democracy in action!

How did you all get together, and what made you stay together?

Craig and I have known each other for years. We were both at art college at the same time, he’d played in loads of bands while I’d generally sat at home pissing about with synths. In 2006 I decided to start a new group, and coincidentally his previous one had just come to an end. He seemed to like the songs I’d demoed, so we took it from there. We booked a gig at the Wee Red Bar, and off we went.
Gavin joined a year ago, he’d been living in New Zealand and we recruited him pretty much as soon as he stepped off the plane. He’s brought stability to the group, something that wasn’t always there before, and we’ve developed a lot since he came on board.

I think ultimately it’s a simple case of belief in the music that’s kept the band together. Not

hating each other helps too.

Your influences are listed as "Glasgow and Edinburgh 1979-81, Manchester 1979-

82, the Pacific Northwest 1988-91", would you like to narrow it down to anyone in

particular, or leave it at that?

To be honest, we always feel a bit awkward when someone asks what our influences are.

We’ve never discussed it with each other, I just don’t think it’s important. I couldn’t even

tell you what the other guys listen to beyond a few things, never mind what influences their

playing.
The stuff you’ve mentioned was just a little tongue in cheek reference to bands that

other people have suggested we have something in common with; Josef K, the Fall, Nirvana,

things like that. We don’t copy other bands, even if we wanted to sound like someone else it

wouldn’t happen. I know it’s handy to have some names out there for potential listeners to get

a taste of where you’re coming from, but I think too much is made of it most of the time.

One thing I noticed when seeing the band live was the high quality of "drummer faces" being pulled by Craig, do you feel this is an important art?

He’s just trying to garner some attention for himself, as he’s a raging egomaniac. Nah, he’s

just pretty excitable. A couple of cartons of Capri Sun before we go onstage and he’s as high

as a kite, bless him.

Craig Peebles demonstrates "drummer face"

Since we are getting alarmingly close to the end of the year let's go all "year in review" style and ask what, if anything, have been highlights for the band this year?

We’ve played a good few gigs beyond the Edinburgh/Glasgow axis for the first time, each one of which was amazing. We drove up to Inverness for GoNorth, zipped down to Dumfriesshire to play the Solus Tent at Wickerman, made a foray over the border to Newcastle, and last month we played our first show in London, which was wonderful. We’ve made lots of new friends and had some laughs. We love playing new places!

And any moments you'd rather forget about?

None that I can think of beyond the occasional “I wish I wasn’t doing this gig with a brain melting hangover”, but I suspect that’s a common occurrence in any band. Rock ‘n’ roll, eh? Once we can afford a coke habit that’ll be a thing of the past.

STREAM: Black International - Idle Worship

Any other bands around at the moment you'd recommend?

Ooh, lots, but I’ll attempt to be frugal with my praise… If you haven’t seen United Fruit yet I suggest you remedy that at the earliest opportunity. They’re one of our favourite bands at the

moment, and they played a jaw dropping set at Wickerman. We also love a Glasgow band called Rollor, they’re absolutely brilliant and are well worth checking out. Verse Metrics are a new group that are doing some good stuff, I expect them to do very well next year. Looking further afield Casa Bonita down in London are staggeringly brutal live, and jolly nice guys to boot. We’re hoping to do another show with them in the springtime.

Any you'd avoid like the plague?

Yes, a couple of bands we’ve played with who’re doing fairly well at the moment but desperately need a collective kick in the nuts. I’ll whisper their names to you…

What do you have planned for the next few months?

Top of the list is finishing our album, we recorded it earlier in the year and have spent a few months mixing it. Our friend Andrew Bush who’s doing it for us has started getting extremely “in demand” as an engineer and has been jet-setting around all over the place, so we just do a bit whenever we can pin him down. We’ll send him emails saying “Make it sound like a wet Tuesday in Doncaster!” or “The reverb isn’t red enough!” which probably gives him headaches but he’s a great engineer and knows how to handle us. It should all be done and dusted by February or March, so we’ll be gearing up for loads of gigs in the springtime, probably an English and Scottish tour, that kind of thing. It’s all terribly exciting! There’s also a single release ready to go, we’re just sorting out the artwork for it at the moment.

Finally, quirky interview questions, fun and harmless, or generally a bit of a waste of time?

Quirky are the best kind. Perhaps your readers will be disappointed we haven’t discussed our

biscuit of choice? Mine’s a garibaldi.

STREAM: Black International - Dread (Excerpt)

Black International: MySpace - Facebook - Twitter - Bandcamp

This Week's Gigs: 22nd - 28th November

Before I get on to the gigs for the week, a couple of reminders.

Firstly as I mentioned yesterday I'm looking for Christmas songs to run throughout December, look here for more details.

Secondly, because hardly anyone does it, a wee reminder that if you have a gig coming up that you want included here the best way to let me know about it is to send the details to gigs@ayetunes.org.uk, which will hopefully save me getting messages saying "oh, you missed my gig" in the hours after posting the gig guide. I didn't miss it, you never told me it was on.

Now, on to this week, which I was planning on spending indoors to save some money. We'll see how well that works out. The gig guide is surprisingly Edinburgh biased this week, so this might be my last chance to save up some Christmas money.

Monday:

Spokes, The John Knox Sex Club, Blood of the Bull. The 13th Note.

Tuesday:

Kristina Cox, Linky Gray, Susanna McDonald, Augustalia. Pivo Pivo.

Wednesday:

Steve Heron, Trapped Mice, Happy Vandals. Sneaky Pete's.

Launch gig for Steve Heron's album "Honest One", with some pretty darn fine supports. If like me you can't get along the album is also available on Bandcamp.

Hannah Peel, Blue Roses, Esperi. The Captain's Rest. (Tickets)

Blue Sky Archives. Bloc, free entry.
There's possibly other bands playing too, but I'll be buggered if I can find any details.

Thursday:

Ethan Ash, Yusuf Azak, Amber Wilson. Cellar 35, Aberdeen.

Ethan & Yusuf set off on a rather rearranged co-headline tour to promote their new releases, Ethan Ash's No Early Nights EP and Yusuf Azak's debut album Turn On the Long Wire.

Friday:

Ethan Ash, Yusuf Azak, Johnnie Common. The Winchester Club, Glasgow

United Fruit, Pensioner, Verse Metrics. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh.

And So I Watch You From Afar, Tubelord, Carnivores. King Tut's (Tickets)

Pin Up Nights 7th Birthday: For Abel, Skinny Villains, Strawberry Ocean Sea. The Flying Duck.

Our pals at PinUp's celebrate 7 years of good music and fun with a birthday party. They've even roped in The National to DJ after their sold out gig at The O2 Academy. Could be an awkward moment there, as For Abel were formerly known as Nacional, until they were asked to change by none other than the management of The National...

Saturday:

Ethan Ash, Yusuf Azak, The Japanese War Effort. St. Stephen's Centre, Edinburgh

Sneaky Fest: Cabaret Voltaire, Sneaky Pete's, Electric Circus, Edinburgh.

We've been quite spoiled with these multi venue type things in Glasgow recently, now Edinburgh gets a shot. Over 30 bands playing across three venues all day long, all for £10. Not much to complain about there. The full line up and stage times can be found here and you can buy tickets here.

Sunday:

Lori McTear Single Launch. The Winchester Club.

Christmas Songs

I am fully aware that is still November, but if I wait until December to ask about this I'll be too late. Besides, once the Coke advert has been on telly it is fair game.

If you were around here last year (and my visitor stats suggest you probably weren't, so hi! Thanks for joining us this year) you might remember that I ran a wee advert calendar type deal, with a Christmassy song every day of December until Christmas Day.

Well, I want to do it again this December, but I don't want to just re-use everything posted last year, this is where I turn to you lot.

Readers, leave any suggestions down in the comments, ideally something I can post without getting sued, by a Scottish band/artist, with some kind of Christmas type theme.

Bands, anyone fancy donating something? I can set things to stream instead of download if it is something you want to sell instead of letting me give away and if you have it on Bandcamp that'll be even better. If you have something up your sleeve you don't mind sharing send a wee email to jim@ayetunes.org.uk and I'll be delighted to include you. Err, just songs though, no links to YouTube of you doing Slade at karaoke, please.

Spotlight: Let's Talk About Trees

After not running any interviews in ages we have two in a week. I'm as surprised as you dear reader.

A while back I received an email from a band called Let's Talk About Trees, asking me to have a listen to a couple of their songs and possibly do a wee something about them for Aye Tunes. I listened to the songs, loved them, then waited around three months to answer the email. I am not a good blogger.

On the eve of the release of their self titled debut album I finally got around to asking Let's Talk About Trees some questions, which they kindly took time out of hand making those albums to answer.

Who are Let's Talk About Trees?

We are Chris McGarry and Kieran Heather - two men from many bands with a particular fondness for the ridiculous.

What do you sound like?

We WANTED to sound like trees, but I suppose Magnetic Fields, Adam Green and the Beta Band is somewhere to start. Bit of Arab Strap as well.

How did the album come about?

Well, we were in the pub (Captain's Rest, to be precise) and were discussing trees for some reason and we'd been recording music just for fun - thought that trees and music might mix. They did! I suppose it was a bet, but no money has passed hands and in any case if we were betting against each other - we both won.

Are making concept albums after a pub bet the future of the music industry then?

I think the way we do things is made easier by having a concept - we're big fans of Brian Eno and he's well into this kind of voodoo. He made that thing Oblique Strategies, didn't he? Heloves concepts. At least I hope he does, I don't know the man and I don't want to make too many assumptions on his part. Anyway, the answer is probably no.

The album launch is coming up soon, what do you have planned for it, or is it a surprise?

I think the surprise is going to be that it actually happened - a lot of our friends are very angry that we're going ahead with it. It's a very cheeky thing to do - make a silly bet in the pub, have a laugh: "hur hur, we're gonna make an album about trees", then show up one day with CDs filled with songs that are actually about trees - people don't expect you to actually do it. When they see the show it'll be the final straw and we will be lynched.

Any plans to talk about more trees in the future, or perhaps other subjects, or is this a one off?

I think the awareness we have raised with this record will suffice. We do genuinely like trees but you'd really have to try to make a career out of it. Instead, we're hopefully going to move on to make a meta-educational album in the spirit of Look Around You (LOOK IT UP!) (Jim: Look Around You is excellent, if you've never seen it you really should try to watch it) - a television series we did not know about until we made the music video for Lumberjack's Lament and somebody commented on it giving reference to the aforementioned television program which I am clearly not going to repeat the name of. It's a pretty marvelous show.

All I can tell you about it is that we will try to break down the taboos of racism, highlight the dangers of (certain) drugs and that there might be a 'bubble moon octopus' involved. The octopus used to be a knight in Malaysia, apparently.

Let's Talk About Trees release their self titled album with a launch gig at Stereo in Glasgow tomorrow night (that's Saturday 20th November). It is a late starter, with doors at 11pm.

You can watch the lovely video for Lumberjack's Lament down below, and to hear an interview with the band and download a couple of session tracks head over to Pop Goes The Revolution.

French Wives - The Home Fires

I kinda meant to plug this last week, but as is not uncommon with me, I forgot.

Every Monday for the forseeable future* French Wives will be giving away a wee something over on their MySpace. [Insert squeals of fanboyish glee from your French Wives loving writer here] Each download is to be accompanied by a blog and a little video.

The first download is available now, a recording of Your Friends and Mine, taken from the band's first "proper" recording session. Go get it from the French Wives MySpace, and keep checking back in there every Monday for more free songs from a fab wee band.

*Unless you are some kind of soothsayer, or know when the World is going to explode, I suppose.

This Week's Gigs: 16th - 21st November

So very late. That's likely to be a repeating refrain for the next wee while, but this time I have an excuse, as I've had to kiss goodbye to a large slice of my free time to be an underpaid under trained shop monkey for a while. Anyone out there want to employ me? I can count, don't nick stuff, speak in sentences, know lots of useless stuff and deal with customers ranging from pleasant to utter arsehole. I'm from Paisley after all, so I have a lot of experience with the latter types. Anyway, enough about me, on with the gigs.

Tuesday:

Slow Club: Lovers Turn To Monsters, Turning Plates. Bloc, free entry.

Gold Panda, Yahweh. King Tut's. (Tickets)

Wednesday:

Wolf Gang, Any Color Black. King Tut's (Tickets)

Detour 1st Birthday. Bloc, free entry

Shamefully I've only ever made it along to the very first Detour and now here they are a year on, having a birthday. As usual these days the line up is secret, but it is unlikely to disappoint.

Thursday:

Oh Thursday, you sneaky bugger...

Randolph's Leap, Inspector Tapehead, Blochestra. Captain's Rest, free entry.

Aye Tunes Vs peenko II co-stars launch their new EP, Battleships and Kettle Chips, with a free gig in The Captain's Rest. The EP is the first release by Olive Grove Records, a new label set up by pals of mine. All of which gives me a good reason to dodge actually writing an EP review under conflict of interests grounds, but the EP is very very good nonetheless and available to buy here.

Now for the sneaky bit...

The Scottish Enlightenment, Le Reno Amps, Deathpodal. The 13th Note.

The Scottish Enlightenment bring their debut album St Thomas to Glasgow. The album is an absolute stunner. A bit of a slow burn maybe, but once it gets its hooks in? Oh boy. The album is available here now, and my gig going on Thursday may have to be settled with a coin toss.

Friday:

Chasing Owls, The Last Battle, Micah Vincent. Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh.

No one has really told me what is happening in Edinburgh this week, so don't blame me for that side of the country being under represented in the gig guide, I'm not a bloody mind reader. This one looks good though.

Ex Libras. Maggie Mays (Tickets)

Londoners Ex Libras are in Glasgow on Friday. Initially didn't quite see what the fuss was over this band, but their most recent EP Cut(s) is a wee bit good, so I may be forced to backpedal.

Saturday:

On Saturday I attempt to do my own multi venue festival thing again, kicking off with Endor and Cancel The Astronauts doing something for Pop Goes The Revolution early on. I think that is technically secret though, so if you want to know more you'll need to ask me, or the bands.

Over The Wall, Kasule. Captain's Rest. (Tickets)

Continuing a pretty flipping good for launches Over The Wall play The Captain's Rest to launch their debut album. I talked a bit about that just the other day, so go here to catch up.

Let's Talk About Trees. Stereo.

Rounding off a busy day and also with their own debut album to launch are Let's Talk About Trees. This is a late kick off, starting around 11pm with the band on about midnight. Hopefully we'll be having a few words with Let's Talk About Trees this week and might be able to tell you a little more about what to expect of the album launch.

I suspect there might be a quite tipsy Jim on the night bus home on Saturday.

Kid Canaveral, The Last Battle. Avalanche, Edinburgh.

Cheeky wee instore gig at the newly reopened Avalanche with a pair of splendid bands.

The Plimptons, The Paraffins, The Kazoo Funk Orchestra, The Murderburgers. Nice N Sleazy.

Oops, forgot this one on the first draft. ANOTHER album launch, this time for The Plimptons. Also a very good album. One day I'll get through the pile and actually review these things instead of just saying they are good. Anyway, in addition to four bands your £6 entry fee will also get you a copy of the album in question, 00s Nostalgia With the Plimptons. Bargain.

Sunday:

The Phantom Band, FOUND. Oran Mor (Tickets)

Betatone Distraction, Kochka, The Red Show. 13th Note.

It took me well over a year to get round to seeing Kochka play live and since then I seem to have seen them every few weeks. I'm quite happy to make up for lost time, they are a band well worth seeing.

Rachel Sermanni, Luke Cairns. The Captain's Rest
The Riot Before, Mondegreen. The Universal.

And So I Watch You From Afar - Straight Through The Sun

I'd be cheating if I called this a review, because I only have a few words to say about the actual single. Nonetheless it is more than worthy of a mention, so...

Northern Ireland's And So I Watch You From Afar have a new single out, which is available as a free download in return for a Tweet or a Facebook post. Go here to find out how to get Straight Through the Sun. As is to be expected from the band it is a lush little slice of instrumental rock, well worth clicking a wee button on your computer screen for.

The single is also available on 7" vinyl, backed with the B-Side Without A Fuckin' Scratch. If you own a record player you should by this, because that b-side is excellent. Close to six minutes of peaks and troughs, with an almighty ear blistering meltdown that sneaks up on you from nowhere.

The two tracks have made my day a whole lot more bearable, which is as good a recommendation as you can get.

The 7" is available on And So I Want You From Afar's upcoming tour and from the Small Town America website.

And So I Watch You From Afar only have one stop in Scotland on their tour, you can catch them at King Tut's on November 26th, supported by the also loud and lovely Tubelord and Carnivores. You did want tinnitus for Christmas, aye? You can buy tickets for that here.

And So I Watch You From Afar: MySpace

Spotlight: Male Pattern Band

Here at Aye Tunes we are a bit crap at getting hold of bands and asking them some questions, which is something we need to work on. With that in mind, I approached Male Pattern Band to see if they'd be willing guinea pigs for an introducing type feature, since I'd caught them supporting French Wives a few weeks ago and really enjoyed them. Happily they were and Singer/Guitarist Chris McCrory answered my incoherent questions for me.

Who are Male Pattern Band?

Male Pattern Band are essentially the result of a bleak, nowhere suburban upbringing and the strong desire to escape to something better, something brighter. Maybe we're trying to change our lives for the better, maybe we're just passing time. I don't really know. But if you want to skip all that wanky crap, we are just three friends who enjoy playing music together; who happen to dislike their current surroundings and write songs about psychotropic-addled girls, boys and the usual late-teen frustrations.

What do you sound like?

"Junkyard Pop" - That's what we sound like, to me anyway. It's something you have to figure out; come and see us live or something then decide. People say we sound like The Modern Lovers, people say we sound like Pavement or, "Like Flies on Sherbet" era Alex Chilton, even Sonic Youth. I say, we sound like "Junkyard Pop".

You've got a couple of sold out CDr's under your belt now, and most recently a tape, can we expect any other releases sometime soon?

We are going to release our first LP in the new year, we recorded it in May at Green Door studio with Emily MacLaren and Stu Evans. Most of it was done in one take very late at night and it is probably the definition of "Junkyard Pop". As a band we've evolved since then, as we only played our first gig in February. However, the record is a moment in time we really enjoyed, and we'd like to share that moment with you.
Other than the album, we are doing a very limited re-issue of the split-cassette on CD in February for folks who don't have a cassette player. And other than that, we just recorded another EP with a good friend containing a mix of new and older tracks. We are kind of experimenting with complete Lo-Fi 4-track cassette Portastudio recordings, Analogue 8 & 16 track Tape recordings and full on Pro Tools HD recordings and just trying to find what works best. We are all very interested in the world of recording and sound production. I have a bit of a studio set up here so we just spend hours screwing around making some cool noises and having fun with it really. There was also talk of a free covers EP later in the year, who knows.

Why a tape anyway, and how did teaming up with Black Jash for it come about?

There isn't really a solid reason for releasing on a cassette tape, it's just kind of cool to us. The first music I ever owned as a child was on cassette tape. Also a lot of the noise and otherwise left-field bands we like on Winning Sperm Party are doing it and we thought it was a pretty cool idea. I think it helps put the value back into owning music - rather than just a faceless mp3, it's something you can hold and look at and if you hate it, I suppose you can make it into a necklace.
As for teaming up with Black Jash, we were introduced to them through Emily and Stu at Green Door and we just really took to them. They play good music and put on a brilliant live show, I wish I could work a crowd and, "banter" like Bob does. We invited them up here for gigs together, got talking and the ball started rolling.

You've been pretty busy gigging, has there been anything that has stood out as particularly good so far?

For me, supporting Thee Oh Sees earlier in the year was a particular highlight as they are a band I've been really into for the past couple of years. In The Red records are a big influence on me in particular. I mean, I literally had to run down Sauchiehall St and on to the stage at Sleazy's out of breath and flustered - but I was playing with Thee Oh Sees, how cool is that?!?! Playing with Astral Planes at Brel in the summer was good too, they were a band I seen supporting the late Jay Reatard (another great In The Red... artist) at King Tuts when Male Pattern Band we're just a proverbial 'twinkle in my eye' and I was rather taken by their set. However, supporting French Wives at Stereo in October was I think the highlight gig for the band as a whole. French Wives to us are probably on the tip of a very large and successful musical iceberg, they are a fantastic band. Plus, we've all wanted to play Stereo for years , so many good bands play there. We were shitting ourselves before we went on, but it was brilliant to play that gig.

Was there anything that hasn't gone so well?

The only gig that didn't go so we'll for us was supporting Sky Larkin at Captains Rest a few months ago. Both my guitars broke in soundcheck, serves me right I suppose for not using cases or whatever - I never had any at the time. However, luckily Katie from Sky Larkin let me borrow one of her guitars for the show. That wasn't the end of our sorrows unfortunately - We err, over-indulged on the bountiful supply of free booze Captains Rest offers it's bands and went on stage rather pissed. My voice then proceeded to almost completely burn itself out halfway through the set. Bit of a disaster from our point of view, but folk seemed to enjoy it and Rokbun gave it a positive review so I'm not sure if it's just us being perfectionists or not. You win some, you lose some, y'know?

Finally, what are your upcoming plans, and what can we look forward to from the band over the next few months?

We'll we now have a website - www.malepatternband.com - that we made. There are lots of hidden secret pages, I bet you can find them. (Jim: I've not found any, I'm rubbish) We'll be using that instead of Myspace now, we still have a very basic page with contact and gig info though if you are a Myspace die hard. But all the updates will be going on the website and our Facebook page.
As for real world plans, just keep doing what we're doing but at a higher gear. Ultimately writing songs, playing gigs and having fun. However, you should definitely look out for more EPs, exclusive releases, one-off and/or otherwise bizarre gigs and maybe even LP number 2 in the near future.

Download: Male Pattern Band - Twee

There's a couple of chances to catch Male Pattern Band coming up soon, the Tut's gig should be particularly good.
Male Pattern Band: Upcoming Gigs

- 11th December @ Flying Duck for the Rancho Picante Christmas Party

- 19th December @ King Tuts supporting St Deluxe (Buy Tickets)

- 12th February @ Gambetta w/ Paws

Photos by Claire Thomson

Male Pattern Band: Website - Facebook

Define Pop Festival 3

Ah time, you've gotten away from me again. The third Define Pop Festival takes place this Saturday across Stereo, the Admiral Bar and Pivo Pivo, and I'd intended to do a better preview of it that this, but haven't, obviously.

Last year's festival was more fun than a bag of, um, fun things (read a very hungover review here if you want) with plenty excellent bands and a ton of good folk. Although we can only guess at the quality of the folk on Saturday the line up looks just as excellent.

Here's the line up and stage times, subject to change:

Stereo:
4.30 The Ghosties

5.20 The Paraffins

6.10 Juan Pablo

7.00 The Hundred Metre Club

7.50 Epic26

8.40 Suspire

9.30 Trapped In Kansas

10:15 Tango In The Attic

The Admiral
4.45 I Build Collapsible Mountains

5.35 Aspen Tide

6.25 So Many Animal Calls

7.15 Campfires In Winter

8.05 Black International

8.55 Little Yellow Ukuleles

9.45 Cities & Skylines

Pivo Pivo
6.45 Little Fire

7.35 Indigo Central

8.25 From Paris To Prison

9.15 The Mademoiselle

10.05 The Machine Room

10.55 Kochka

Over The Wall Get "Treacherous"

Over The Wall release their debut album, Treacherous, on November 22nd. To celebrate there are a pair of launch gigs. The first is tomorrow night in Edinburgh, the second on November 20th in Glasgow. Here's a little video of Ben and Gav to tell you more details:

The Edinburgh gig is also Limbo's third birthday and Over The Wall will be supported by How To Swim and The Oates Field, and that takes place at The Voodoo Rooms (Buy Tickets)

For the Glasgow gig on the 20th, in the Captain's Rest, Over The Wall will be joined by kasule, with the evening hosted by Bozilla. (Buy Tickets)

The album is released by Motive Sounds on November 22nd and will be available to buy direct from there or from all the usual shops.

I'll try and review the album soon, but in the meantime you can hear one of the tracks below.

Stream: Over The Wall - Two Nightmares

Stereo's Special Deal

Pretty much just a plug this post, so skip it if you don't like it.

January can be a bit of a rubbish time for gigs, everyone is a bit skint after Christmas and New Year, so anyone putting a gig on runs the risk of it being quieter than usual, so many don't bother.

With that in mind Stereo in Glasgow are offering a special deal for the month of January. Instead of the usual prices hiring the venue will only cost £80. That, to me, is a bit of a bargain.

To book the place, or for more info, email Si. If you feel like telling him i sent you, please do.

You never know, might even take up that offer myself...

This Week's Gigs: 8th - 14th November

Before I get on with what is on this week a quick thank to everyone that came down to The Classic Grand on Friday for our gig and a huge thanks to I build Collapsible Mountains, Come on Gang! and The Seventeenth Century for playing. They were all, of course, excellent.

Now, on to this week.

Monday:

Wavves, Otherpeople, PAWS. The Arches (Tickets)

Not that keen on Wavves to be honest, but we like Otherpeople and PAWS loads. While I'm at it, you can grab a free download of Wooplash by Otherpeople over at Artrocker just now.

Aaron Wright and the Aprils. King Tut's. (Tickets)

Tuesday:

Miller Filtered Music Present: Ash, Aerials Up, Alan R Davison. Oran Mor (Tickets)

The second Miller Filtered Music gig sees Ash play a stripped back set, joined by local supports Aerials Up and Alan R. Davison.

Wild Nothing, Crayons, Kill The Waves. The Arches (Tickets)

Focus Left. The Arches

Focus Left is a new platform for short filmmakers who are interested in incorporating live elements into the screening of their work, whether it be live music, soundscape, performance or improvised narration. The line up for the night includes:

Forest of Black's short film from this year's Homegame Music Festival
Live audiovisual electronica performance of No Man's Land by Fiona Soe Paing
Retchy (aka Graeme Hawkins) performing The Lyre Of Orpheus
Fear Wasabi perform live over their music video for the Pixies' Debaser
Charmaine Gilbert and CP Lucas Kao screen A Lifetime, featuring live narration from actress Wendy Barrett
Me and the Machine's Clara García Fraile premieres her latest short
Electro-acoustic duo Blacktzar perform alongside a screening of their latest video How Does It Feel, animated by Barry Thomson
Another chance to see Sigma Film's I Love Luci (recently screened at the Fence Records' Hallowe'en party)

Wednesday:

Jjnx Lennon, The Girobabies, Robert Sarazin Blake, Roscoe Vacant. The 13th Note.

Muso: Mickey 9's, Codeen. The Buff Club.

Thursday:

Sonny Marvello, The Cinnamons, The Dirty Demographic, Galleries. Stereo.

Launch gig for Sonny Marvello's new EP, Pull Me Up.

Friday:

You Already Know, Deadotter, The Little Mill of Happiness, Circle of Tyrants. The 13th Note.

One of our favourite bands, You Already Know, play their first proper gig in ages. I am fully prepared to have my face melted, my ears pounded and to love every minute of it. Get yourself along.

Mocker, The Tenemants, The Fonetics. Ivory Blacks.

This is a fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis, so your money will be put to good use if you go.

British India, St Deluxe, Penguins Kill Polar Bears. Stereo. (Tickets)

The Scottish Enlightenment, Trapped Mice, Jesus H. Foxx. The Wee Red Bar, Edniburgh.

Edinburgh launch gig for The Scottish Enlightenments debut album. The album is pretty much brilliant and this gig should be too. The Glasgow launch is the following week, so Edinburgh people have a chance to pick up the album first and rub our West of Scotland faces in it.

Pablo Eskimo. The Vale

Saturday:

The Power Cut Choir, Freight Logistics. Gambetta.

Radar Present: Mitchell Museum, Bronto Skylift, Capitals. Electric Circus, Edinburgh. (Tickets)

Define Pop Festival 3. Stereo, The Admiral, Pivo Pivo. (Tickets)

Should be a proper preview of this up during the week, but until then here's the short version. Three venues, Seven quid, loads of bands. Announced so far are *deep breath* Tango In The Attic, Trapped In Kansas, Little Yellow Ukuleles, Cities and Skylines, I Build Collapsible Mountains, Suspire, Epic 26, The Machine Room, The Ghosties, Aspen Tide, So Many Animal Calls, Campfires In Winter, Kochka, The Hundred Metre Club, From Paris To Prison, Indigo Central, Little Fire and Juan Pablo, with more to come.

Sunday:

No Dancing: Withered Hand (Solo), Bronto Skylift, Ambulances, Galoshins. Stereo. (Tickets)

The Sexual Objects, Flesh, Wake The President. King Tut's. (Tickets)

One More Aye Tunes Vs Peenko Plug

There's just two more days to go until this, after which I'll shut up about it obviously.

On the offhand you hadn't noticed Peenko and I are putting on another gig on Friday.

It is in The Classic Grand, with an early kick off time of 7pm, so finish work, have your dinner and get along quick so you don't miss anything.

This will be the last of the Aye Tunes Vs Peenko gigs, at least for a while, so we'd love it if as many people as possible could join us for a few beers, and uncomfortable amount of us invading your personal space with hugs and of course some quality musical entertainment.

Joining Campfires in Winter, Mitchell Museum and Kid Canaveral, Little Yellow Ukuleles, Randolph's Leap and We're Only Afraid of NYC on the list of bands foolish enough to play for us we have:

I Build Collapsible Mountains

Luke Joyce's one man singer-songwriter show. It isn't just us that is very excited about I Build Collapsible Mountains, he was a runner up in the recent Radar Music Prize too.

Stream: I Build Collapsible Mountains - Rails

Come on Gang!

Edinburgh based three piece indie pop merchants help us show that we like both Edinburgh and women, honest. Dancing is encouraged. Come on Gang! have made the final shortlist for Hog The Stage too, so could well be stealing the limelight from Biffy Clyro at Edinburgh's Hogmanay.

Stream: Come on Gang! - Fortune Favours The Brave

The Seventeenth Century

The Seventeenth Century make a thrilling combination of pop, folk and rock music, with orchestral influences. The Seventeenth Century are a bad that no matter how often I listen to them, how often I see them, I keep finding something new in their songs. Plus, it isn't often you get to see a violin and cornet player throw the kind of shapes or exert the amount of energy that Mark Farmer and Mike Truscott do. I can't help but agree with John Robb, who said after seeing them that "Their sound is utterly original and the band is pure genius"

Stream: The Seventeenth Century - Mid October

Tickets are £6, available from Tickets Scotland, TicketWeb, direct from us in person (just send me an email and I'll come meet you to swap tickets for money) or online, or you can contact the bands for tickets. There will be tickets on the door, but get in quick before they all go.

For those into that kind of thing there's a Facebook event page here too.

So, that's The Classic Grand on Friday November 5th at 7pm. If you are worried about missing out on fireworks let me know and I'll buy you a sparkler.

Come along and we'll love you forever.

This Week's Gigs: 1st - 7th November

This week's guide is brought to you by the numbers three and five, and a large amount of bias.

Monday:

Fighting With Wire, Carnivores. Stereo.

Derry's Fighting With Wire hit Scotland, and drag in Aye Tunes favourites Carnivores as support. It'll be loud, it'll be good. Oh aye, Carnivores have cheap tickets too.

Happy Birthday, PAWS. Captain's Rest.

Tuesday:

Nanobots, Ste McCabe, Stella Zine, Glasgow Glam Bangers. Gambetta.

Happy Birthday, Mtchell Museum. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh.

Wednesday:

Mtchell Museum, Miaoux Miaoux, Miniature Dinosaurs. King Tut's. (Tickets)

A delightful evening of M's. Our love for Mitchell Museum and Miaoux Maioux is bordering on unhealthy, and Miniature Dinosaurs are quite smashing too. If you only go to two gigs this week make this your first one. The other one is on Friday, obviously.

Fabrikant Records Present: Flights of Fancy. The Lot, Edinburgh.

Featuring musicians from Conquering Animal Sound, Haftor Medbøe Group, The Lotus Project, Discordian Trio, NeWt, Stanley Odd and more.

Thursday:

Second Hand Marching Band, Benni Hemm Hemm, Tannahill. Stereo.

We like the Second Hand Marching Band and Benni Hemm Hemm round here, but we are paticularly excited about the third band. Comprising Alasdair Roberts, Wounded Knee, Sean from John Knox Sex Club and SHMB members Alistair, Pete, Ross and Rich, they'll be performing songs based on the work of Paisley poet Robert Tannahill. Pop over here for some more details, and a few free mp3s too.

The Last Battle, The Scottish Enlightenment, Very Well. Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh.

I've owed The Last Battle an album review for ages now, but the short version is this - their debut album is really very good. The upcoming album by The Scottish Enlightenment is also very good. Edinburgh folk could do a lot worse than pop along to this. The Last Battle also have an instore appearance at Elvis Shakespeare's on Saturday.

Elba Sessions Present: I Build Collapsible Mountains, iglue, Now Wakes the Sea. The Liquid Ship.

Our pals over at Elba Sessions have their last gig of the year on Thursday and as usual it is well worth a look.

Friday:

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko III: I Build Collapsible Mountains, Come on Gang!, The Seventeenth Century. The Classic Grand. (More Info)

Well of course I'm going to tell you to go to this. I've been slightly less obnoxious in pimping this gig on the blog so far, but you can probably expect me to ram it down your throat between now and Friday. Even if it wasn't me & Peenko putting it on I'd be advising you to go though, as we always put on a line up we'd want to go to. This will be the final AVP gig and we aim to end things with a bang, so it would be nice to see lots of faces there, familiar and new. Please come. Holler if you want tickets.

Other gig options are available on Friday, but bias means I'm not telling you what they are.

Oh ok then, since I like these bands, you can find Mondegreen at Nice N Sleazy and Male Pattern Band, Black Jash and Jacob Yates and the Pearly Gate Lock Pickers at The 13th Note.

Saturday:

Meursault, Happy Particles, Olympic Swimmers. Stereo.

Roses Kings Castles, Fiction Faction, Reverie. The Classic Grand. (Tickets)