This Week's Gigs: 18th - 24th April

Ooh look, the sun is out. Instead I'm sat inside looking up gigs for you lot. You never say thanks, you never call, you never write. Not even a card in the post. Bunch of buggers.

Anyway, assuming you haven't spent all your money on vinyl during Record Store Day yesterday, there's a lot on this week worth going to. Also, don't forget you are allowed to spend all your money in records shops every day, so don't just do it the once then forget about them till next April.

Monday:

Lykke Li, Sarah Blasko. The Arches.

The Mummers, Kettle of Kites. King Tut's. (Tickets)

Tuesday:

Kristina Cox, Raymond Elma, Bobby Deans. Pivo Pivo.

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hearafter, First Tiger, The Dirt. Captain's Rest. (Tickets)

Wednesday:

Johnny Foreigner, The Whisky Works, The 10:04s. Nice N Sleazy. (Tickets)

Thursday:

Le Reno Amps, the douglas firs, Super Adventure Club, Galoshins. The Captain's Rest.

Launch gig for the new Le Reno Amps album, Appetite. With that line up a good night is all but guaranteed.

That Fucking Tank, Battery Face, Mr Peppermint, Shield Your Eyes. Henry's Cellar Bar, Edinburgh.

Friday:

Oh Friday, once again you are ripping the piss.

You Already Know, Bloodlunch, What The Blood Revealed. The Cathouse. Free.

YAK launch their brilliant second album with a free gig in the Catty. Oh God, i have to go to the Cathouse. I also need to run away early for the next gig...

So Many Animal Calls, Campfires In Winter, MakethisRelate. 13th Note.

So many Animal Calls release their first proper EP on Monday, with a launch gig on Friday. Good.

Ghosts of Progress, The Girobabies, Filthy Little Secret, The Retrofets. Captain's Rest.

The Ghosties. Classic Grand.

Bad McNulty. Maggie Mays.

Roads To Siam, Verse Metrics, New Town Triptych. Stereo. (Tickets)

RM Hubbert, Adam Stearns Band, Galoshins. Forest Cafe, Edinburgh.

Kitty the Lion. Electric Circus, Edinburgh

Sebastian Dangerfield, We See Lights, Adam Thompson (We Were Promised Jetpacks). Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh.

In case Edinburgh felt left out when it comes to launch gigs, here's one for the rather fab Sebastian Dangerfield EP.

Six Storeys High, Plastic Animals, The Laymanites, Precious and Grace. Maggie's Chamber, Edinburgh.

The Bad Books. Nobles Bar.

There will be other bands playing, but I don't know who. Also, no link for The Bad Books as yet. This is their first gig, and one of the people in the band is the superbly awesome Mikey Morrison, formerly of Come on Gang!

Saturday:

You might think you'd get a break over the Easter weekend especially after that lengthly list of gigs on Friday. You'd be wrong.

Kid Canaveral, Thee Single Spy, Monster Island. Henry's Cellar Bar.

Another Ides of Toad gig, and once again Matthew has a fine line-up.

Edinburgh School For The Deaf, Black Heart Generator, Verse Metrics. The Wee Red Bar.

Captain's Rest 3rd birthday Weekend. The Captain's Rest. 4pm - 1am.

The first day of the 3rd birthday of The Captain's Rest being under PCL's control. Line up includes: How Garbo Died, Mondegreen, Louise McVey and Cracks in the Concrete, Happy Vandals, Julia and the Doogans, Ben Butler and Mousepad, Wake the President.

St Deluxe, Bronto Skylift, PAWS. King Tut's. (Tickets)

Outstanding. St Deluxe have a new single out on 10" while Bronto will also be releasing their new 7" on the night too. Hello to me buying records I can't actually play then.

Fiction Faction. 13th Note.

Sunday:

Captain's Rest Birthday.

2nd day of the birthday weekend, with Kid Canaveral, Mitchell Museum (y'know it is almost a year since Peenko and I put those two on in this venue, doesn't time fly?), How To Swim, Heart Beats, theapplesofenergy, Dear Mountaineer.

S.A.V.I. Fundraiser: Kris Tennant, Mocker, SevenCaves, Matt Johnston. Apollo 23.

This gig is being put together to raise funds and awareness for the Sexual Assault Victims Initiative, which you can find out more about at the link above.

Eddy & the T-Bolts, Bloodlunch, Southpaw, Buzzbomb. Nice n Sleazy.

Gig Review: Wide Days - Letters, PAWS, Rachel Sermanni, Withered Hand, Capitals, GoGoBot

I never made it along to Wide Days the other week. However, Fraser Doig did, and kindly sent over his report on the showcase gigs that took place in the evening to share. You can find more of Fraser's writing here.

In the wake of an informative, yet exhausting day at the seminar-laden Wide Days festival in Edinburgh, I donned my notebook and pen and set off into the throng, the smell of anticipation filling the air to the start of what promises to be a thoroughly canorous evening in the heart of Scotland’s capital city.

The first port of call is the amorously secluded Sneaky Pete’s. Snuggled in between the glowering, dark appendages of the Cowgate, the venue, despite it’s tiny 100 (barely) capacity, manages to mop up a swab of endless Scottish talent on a regular basis, and has bags of character. Tonight, it plays host to festival openers LETTERS, and the behemoth-driven scuzz trio, PAWS.

After a bit of a futz around LETTERS shuffle on to the stage (if you can call it that), eyes filled with the sight of a packed crowd, off-duty and ready to let loose. The quintet certainly didn’t digress from the task, providing punchy pop tunes and feisty summer jangles, soaked with clamorings that were resonant with inclinations of veteran Scottish indie maestros We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Next on the bill were Scotland’s answer to Dinosaur Jr. PAWS, who have been making (very loud) noises in the underground grunge movement of late, with impressive slots supporting heroes of the genus Yuck, Ty Segall and Wavves. From the moment Phillip Taylor’s fingers touched the strings of his cherry red “pussy-strat”, full on carnage was released, resulting in a barrage of sonic buzz that literally shook the walls and had my heart pumping. They hit the crowd for sixes by producing a scrummy torrent of fuzzy distortion out of their living,

breathing instruments. Powering through an electric body of some melodic tasters such as “Salem” off their ‘Mermaid’ EP, augmented by some visceral, face-numbing angst-y riffs, their feedback nourished set was a resounding success, leaving everyone exiting the club looking as though they’d just had the best sex of their lives.

The dying April sun finally making its bed behind the captivating architecture of Edinburgh city as I made my way along to our second venue in the twilight, eager to arrive at the penultimate Wide Days haunt, Cabaret Voltaire.

First to grace the stage in this 450 capacity stronghold was Highland-based songstress RACHEL SERMANNI. The 19 year old has already racked up a scorching resume; travelling the States at SXSW, supporting slots with KT Tunstall and Newton Faulkner, and peaking the interest of contemporaries Mumford and Sons to name a few of her accolades. It’s almost impossible not to

fall completely in love with Rachel, her sharp collection of lyrical, folk-infused ballads lay bare the soul of a genuine performer, who’s intricate finger-plucking radiates around the room creating a warm glow in everyone present.

Buzzed from his return from America and finally at liberty to put all that “visa crap” behind him, the tumultuous congregation greet Dan Willson, better known under the moniker Withered Hand on to the stage for his first post-SXSW appearance. Rather than opting for the more familiar lone performer guise, he is accompanied by several of his friends and colleagues, providing a grumbling bass line, adventurous bluegrass influences and subtle classical flavours to his euphonious endeavours. Those accustomed to his more weathered appearance may have been confused as to his newly groomed, clean shaven look, but these questions were soon buried as he unearths a story explaining that his former-self was “the spitting-image” of his US manager’s ex-wife. Withered Hand proved to be a strong favourite with the baying audience,

his quivering, spritely vocals turning heads from the back of the room, his whispered, clandestine lyrics delivered with all the intensity of a raging bonfire, cementing claims that this man’s songwriting abilities can be regarded in the same esteem as some of the other great enigmatic lyricists such as Daniel Johnston, who’s shadowy stylings have had more than a marginal influence on Mr. Willson.

Third stop off of the night was Electric Circus, a grimy looking bizarre-o club that was perfect for closing acts CAPITALS and GOGOBOT and a suitable finishing line to the evening’s palpable good-natured festivities.

A surprisingly minimal set-up commandeered by electro-pop group CAPITALS comprised of synths, guitar and vocals, that defied the dynamic and enriched sound they produced. Taut drum loops churned in with clobbering bass lines paved the way for Angus Carbarn’s ethereal vocals to gleam through, with a little touch of the Brandon Flowers inflection to it.

Now, if Glasgow-based GOGOBOTS know much about anything, the one thing they can do beyond a shadow of a doubt, is party. Taking their cues from the likes of LCD Soundsystem and Pendulum, they deliver a bombastic, emotionally driven wave of pure energy that floods the dark confines of the club inviting even the cynical naysayers to allow themselves a cheeky nod of the head.

The Wide Days festival is a great way for musicians and friends to share their knowledge and create a community of talent, a noble cause if ever there was one. Definitely pencilled in for next year.

Review by Fraser Doig.

PAWS photo by Tiffany Barber

More Info:

Wide Days

Letters

PAWS

Withered Hand

Rachel Sermanni

Capitals

GoGoBot

News & Bits - April 12th

Time for a wee round up of new releases and other goings on. All the news about Record Store Day this Saturday can be found off in a post of its own here.

New Releases:

Originally available as part of the deluxe pre-order version of their debut album, Conquering Animal Sound have now made Kammerspiel Remixed available to buy as a download. There's some very pretty art prints available too. Both can be found at the Gizeh Records shop.

The Darien Venture's EP, Indications, is out now. Available from all the usual places and directly from Overlook Records. I've got a review of this needing finished off, but the short version amounts to "the EP is very good, buy a copy".

Esperanza release their debut album, Permanent Ska. You can buy it on Bandcamp.

Something Beginning With L release their debut EP, The Listed Building EP. This is really good, and includes a cover of a Magoo song, which is highly approve of. Again, you can find it on Bandcamp.

Spring Offensive have a new single, A Stutter and a Start. All good download places, etc.

Verse Metrics have released the song Horoscopes, taken from their VM1 EP. You can get the track in exchange for some Twitter or Facebook clicking here.

All Change:

Seems to be the season for bands reinventing themselves. First it was The Social Services becoming Tall Tales, now another pair of bands have changed name.

Barn Owl are now Silver Caves, which will save me being very confused when the other Barn Owl are mentioned. They've also kindly put a couple of tracks up on Bandcamp to download for free.

After changing their line up a bit BMovie Junkies have also gone and changed their name. They are now Bad McNulty, and you can find them on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Japan Fundraisers:

As promised last week, some info on a few things to raise money for the relief effort in Japan.

Love Letter To Japan features 18 tracks from Scottish artists, some previously unavailable, some hard to find, including the first new song from Eugenius in 15 years. You can buy the album for a limited time from Bandcamp.

Songs For The Land of the Rising Sun is an album that first went on sale at the Endor gig in the Captain's Rest the other week. The album was put together by Pelmet Nights and Gathering Whispers. A digital release is coming this week, I'll update with links when I have them.

On May 3rd there's another fundraising gig taking place. The gig is at The Thirteenth Note, with Mitchell Museum, Dave Hughes and the Renegade Folk Punk Band (making yet another appearance in one of my news posts) and Lady North on the bill.

Bits:

There isn't a great deal else to report and Bandcamp trawling hasn't thrown up much this week.

mini50 Records have a free to download Spring Sampler though, which is worth grabbing, here.

Over on Song, by Toad you can listen to and watch a brilliant Toad Session with Thirty Pounds of Bone. You should, it is really good. Find it here.

Looking ahead a bit, Aerials Up are planning the release of their first EP. They'll be playing at King Tut's on April 30th with the EP, Superglue, coming out the next day. Tickets for the Glasgow gig are available here, and I'll have more about the EP nearer the time of release.

Gig Review: How Garbo Died

How Garbo Died.

Pivo Pivo, Glasgow.

April 9th 2011.

I'd already been to a gig on Saturday night, but an early finish there offered me the chance to make the short walk from The Admiral to Pivo Pivo just in time to wrap my eyes and ears round How Garbo Died. This late arrival meant I missed Audiodeluxe and It Girl, so don't read anything into the lack of comment on them, I just didn't see them.

How Garbo Died are a pretty uncompromising pair of men at the best of times. When confronted with the two main things that blight almost every gig I attend in Pivo Pivo - ropey sound and endless chatter - they react with the kind of level headedness you'd expect. That is, none at all.

If there's any kind of rules about treating an audience with the respect they deserve then the poor crowd in Pivo Pivo can't complain about the contempt How Garbo Died dished out. They opt for a tactic something along the lines of if people won't listen, deafen them.

When not lost in muddy sound, or when trying to leave lasting mental scars, How Garbo Died do get to show they have songs to back up the attitude though. Jagged guitars, occasionally beaten out of a seemingly failing instrument allied with loops and soaring vocals give things a certain post apocalyptic feel at times, and you get the idea they wouldn't be all that bothered if a large slice of humanity was wiped off the face of the Earth either.

An attempt at silencing the talking hordes - a venomous holler unrepeatable on a family blog - backfires slightly, as it sends me into waves of laughter, adding to the crowd noise, but means this is a gig I'm not likely to forget in a while.

More chaos follows, with excursions off the stage taking place, perhaps an attempt to personally deafen the ignorant before How Garbo Died close things with My Life In Statistics. Imagine Arab Strap in a really bad mood and you are in the right ballpark.

This was one of those gigs that sounds nightmarish when written down, but was something quite thrilling and brilliant to witness. Uncompromising and brutal, but brilliant.

How Garbo Died certainly aren't easy listening and may well scare off more people than they convert, but this is no bad thing. They certainly stand out a mile from the legions of jangly guitared matching shirts and haircuts crowd. I just hope when the apocalypse does come they let me stick around with them afterwards.

How Garbo Died: Facebook - Bandcamp

News & Bits - Record Store Day Special

Record Store Day came into being in 2007 when over 700 independent stores in the USA came together to celebrate their unique culture. The UK followed suit and 2011 will see the third celebration of the UK's unique independent sector. This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, meet & greets with artists, DJ's, in store quizzes and many other events.

A fair few of the independent shops in Scotland have things going on on Saturday, such as:

Love Music Glasgow

1:30 The Hollows - new Glasgow band signed to ex-Primal Screamer Jim Beattie's new label POP PILLS
2:00 Mr Kil - the former Grim Northern Social now signed to Neon Tetra
2:30
3:00 Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers

3:30 The Zips
4:00 Admiral Fallow

4:30 Pearl of Pearl & the Puppets
5:00 Ceilidh Time !! We will be popping open the fizz and drinking with our friends CLAMJAMFRIE for the last hour or so. Squeezebox, fiddle, guitars- a good laugh guaranteed from Joe Logue and the gang from this traditional ceilidh band from Lochwinnoch.

Monorail

Live performances from:
Iain Shaw (from 2pm)
Frightened Rabbit (from 5pm, full band)
Palms (from 7pm)
The Membranes (from 9pm)
Plus homebaking, activities and floor fillers from djs Gerry Love (Teenage Fanclub), Paul Thomson (Franz Ferdinand tbc) & Russell Elder (monorail music)

Avalanche

Frightened Rabbit, Penguins Kill Polar Bears and Gordon McIntyre of Ballboy all instore with The Last Battle playing next door at Red Dog.

There's lots more going on across the country, so visit the Events page of the Record Store Day website for more details.

In addition there's a whole host of RSD exclusive releases. Full info here, but from Scottish artists we have:

Frightened Rabbit/The Twilight Sad - Split Cassette

Possibly one of the most desired released, particularly by me. The Fat Cat Records team have been hard at work making these up up - see here and here for the evidence - and they are limited to 777 copies. Simply entitled 'Demos', the cassettes contain very early and previously unheard music from Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad. Also included in there is The Twilight Sad covering Frightened Rabbit's Be Less Rude, and renaming it Ravishing Rick Rude for the occasion. Tapes come with a download code too.

Edwyn Collins & The Drums - In Your Eyes/To Die For 7"

Franz Ferdinand - Covers EP 12"

Contains cover versions of Franz Ferdinand songs by Debbie Harry, LCD Soundsystem, Peaches, ESG and Stephen Merritt.

James Yorkston - It's Lovely To Be Heard 10"

Lone Pigeon - 28 Secret Tracks 12"

Primal Scream - Screamadelica Triple Vinyl.

The View - I Need That Record 7"

St Deluxe will also be releasing their new 3 track single, on a limited 10"

This Week's Gigs: 11th - 17th April

Gigs for the week, in a guide format. I'm quite short on witty banter this week. No change there then.

Monday:

The Japanese War Effort. Mono. Free.

As well as being half of Conquering Animal Sound, an Inverness fan and very tall, The Japanese War Effort is also ace. Free entry too, bonus.

UPDATE: This has been cancelled, so don't go.

Tuesday:

The Seventeenth Century. Mono. Free.

If you don't know what I think of the Seventeenth Century by now you just haven't been paying attention. I think they'll be playing a bit more stripped back than usual for this gig.

Wednesday:

Jeniferever, Where We Lay Our Heads. The Captain's Rest. (Tickets)

Toy Horses, Luigi Strauss, Alkotron. King Tut's. (Tickets)

Crayons, Tempercalm, Weather Barn, Dilectrics, Sonic Hearts Foundation. Stereo. (Tickets)

Thursday:

Lone Pigeon, The Pictish Trail. Pilrig St Pauls, Edinburgh.

Pop Goes The Revolution Live: Skinny Villains, Napoleon In Rags, Male Pattern Band, Butterflies on Strings. Captain's Rest.

Shambles Miller, Where We Lay Our Heads (acoustic). The Free Hetherington.

A wee bit of free acoustic fun at The Free Hetherington. I've said free too much now.

Nevada Base, Alpine Ski Champion. Nice n Sleazy.

Six Storeys High, People, Places, Maps. Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh.

Literary Death Match. The Arches.

Not a gig, but likely to be good and I don't just do music. Especially when it means I can sneak in a plug for Cargo Publishing. More details on Facebook.

Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds, She's Hit, JD Twitch. The Vic Bar.

Paul Vickers and The Leg, Zed Penguin. Sneaky Pete's.

Friday:

Fridge Magnets, Indian Red Lopez, VsVs. ABC2.

The Boy Who Trapped The Sun, This Silent Forest, Little Fire. King Tut's. (Tickets)

Pianos Become The Teeth, Your Neighbour The Liar, Departures, Suis La Lune, Notebooks. Nice N Sleazy.

Barmellodie: Chris Devotion and the Expectations, Johnny Reb, Steven Milne, Helsinki Seven. Bloc.

First band on at 11, free before 12, carnage till 3.

Foxgang, Monsters on Movie Posters, Stu Goodall Band. The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh.

Saturday:

Record Store Day! Info on instores etc will be in a separate post on Monday.

Popcorn Fiend, Battery Face, Public Spaces. Captain's Rest.

A very special one off full band reunion for Popcorn Fiend, to celebrate the launch of their new EP.

Verse Metrics, Black International, LightGuides, The Sailplanes. Relentless Garage, London.

Admittedly it is a bit unlikely I'll have any Londoners looking at the blog for something to do on Saturday, but worth a try.

Aperture, Last Minute Glory, Animal Passion, Lost Weekend, New Addiction. Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh.

Wrongnote, Monstro. Nice N Sleazy.

Ryan Bisland, Brigade. Altnaharra Hotel, Altnaharra

News & Bits - April 5th

Not a great deal to report this week, let's have a look and see what is out and what's generally going on.

Next week's news will, hopefully, have a fair chunk devoted to Record Store Day, so any bands, record shops or anyone else out there reading this - if you have something planned, send me the details!

New Releases:

Futuristic Retro Champions play their final gigs this weekend, and release the retrospective album Love and Lemonade. the 25 track album is available from iTunes, with a limited number of CDs on sale at the gigs on Friday and Saturday.

Glasvegas release their second album, EUPHORIC ///HEARTBREAK\\\. Haven't heard it, can I slag it just for the abuse of capital letters? Anyway, you can buy it from iTunes, Amazon
, HMV, yadda yadda yadda.

Member of the Wedding have a new double A-side single, Disorder/Rich Tapestry. Again, available from iTunes.

That seems to be it. There's a fair few things out in the next few weeks, including excellent albums from Le Reno Amps, Take a Worm For a Walk Week and You Already Know, but we'll get to them later.

A few of the charity things mentioned recently will be released fully next week, but I'll save that for the appropriate news round-up.

News & Other Stuff:

The Insider Festival have started announcing their line up for this year. Bands announced so far include The Last Battle, Bronto Skylift, French Wives, How To Swim, Let's Talk About Trees and loads more, along with bear baiting, cock fighting and badger wrestling, apparently. Tickets go on sale soon, full info on the website.

The Douglas Firs release their debut album Happy as a Windless Flag via our pals at Armellodie Records on May 16th, but you can order a copy now and get an immediate download here. Someone lend me a fiver to buy it? No? Sod you then.

The deadline for entering this year's TBreak contest is close. Entries close on Monday 11th April.

A quick plug for the competition - Favourite Son has weighed in with a few thoughts on the Kassidy debate. You should still read my gig guide instead of his though.

Bandcamp trawling hasn't thrown up much this week either, here's a few things I've found or been pointed to:

The Deadly Winters have a free download single available here. An self titled album follows on the 8th, with a launch gig at the One Below in Edinburgh.

The Spook School, who I meant to mention last week, have a couple of songs here. I like these.

Lyon Reve are from further afield, but include an online pal of mine, so get a wee plug. The tunes are good though, you can find them here.

Thank goodness for Chemikal Underground for sending out their latest newsletter today, giving me a few things to pinch for myself. You can, and should, sign up to the newsletter yourself here, but here's the basics...

FOUND's next single will be Anti Climb Paint. It will be released on a playable chocolate 7". Yes, you read that correctly, chocolate. Also, I need to get round to writing a Factorycraft review, don't I?

Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells release Everything's Getting Older on May 9th. The limited edition triple vinyl with loads of extra stuff is tempting me, even though I don't own a record player.

Finally, another wee plug for thing we like combining: Black International will be live in session on Ally McCrae's BBC Introducing show on Radio 1 at midnight this Sunday night/Monday morning.

That's about it for this week I reckon.

This Week's Gigs: 4th - 10th April

Despite having my grass cut by bigger branded gig guides I'm carrying on with my own for the time being. Support your local shop.

Recent weeks have been fairly quiet, this week is not even slightly quiet.

Monday:

Roddy Woomble. Paisley Arts Centre.

Tuesday:

The Red Room Presents: Redwings, Adam Stafford, theapplesofenergy. The 13th Note.

Washington Irving, Randolph's Leap, Mike Nesbit. Captain's Rest. (Tickets)

Washington Irving are off on tour, launching their new single Abbey Gallop.

Shooting Stansfield, Where We Lay Our Heads, People, Places, Maps... Maggie's Chambers, Edinburgh.

The Xcerts, The Barents Sea. The Doghouse, Dundee. (Tickets)

Wednesday:

Jonnie Common's DESKJOB: Album Launch. The Captain's Rest.

DESKJOB is an album of performances by Meursault, Panda Su, Conquering Animal Sound, eagleowl, Adam Beattie, Iona Marshall, Autistic Angus, The Oates Field, Adam P Gorman and Inspector Tapehead. Nine of them will be playing 2 songs each, in an intimate fashion, at the launch. More details can be found at the link above, as can tickets.

Secret CDs: Birdhead, Polly and the Billets Doux, Sparrahawk, Rosie Nimmo. The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh. £3.

The Airborne Toxic Event. QM Union. (Tickets)

The Xcerts, The Barents Sea. Drummonds, Aberdeen.

Thursday:

Sucioperro, Carnivores, Wrongnote. The Arches (Tickets)

Wide Days - full info here.

Two Winners Present: Mitchell Museum, The Scottish Enlightenment, Dormant Figure. Dexters, Dundee. (Tickets)

Does anyone from Dundee read the blog? If you do then may I suggest going to this?

Vendor Defender, Young Aviators. The Captain's Rest.

Miss The Occupier, The Red Show, A Fight You Can't Win. Maggie Mays.

Take A Worm For A Walk Week, OV. CCA. £5.

Take A Worm... launch their really quite wonderful new album, with a little help from their friends.

The Xcerts, The Barents Sea, Six Storeys High. Fubar, Stirling. (Tickets)

Friday:

Futuristic Retro Champions, Little Eskimos, Manda Rin (DJ). The Captain's Rest.

The final *sniff* Glasgow gig from FRC. Cheap tickets available from their link above.

Scrap Brain, Lady North, Jump: Press A, Hagana. Maggie's Chambers, Edinburgh.

Controversy causing Edinburgh noiseniks Scrap Brain launch their new single "Nal", with some ace support bands.

The Late Call, de Selby, Adam Stafford. The Flying Duck.

Sonic Hearts Foundation, Edinburgh School For The Deaf. Nice n Sleazy.

Supermarionation & others. Box.

Saturday:

Ah Saturday, it has been a wee while since you decided to have a laugh. Back to your old tricks I see.

No Dancing: The Scottish Enlightenment, Miaoux Miaoux, Male Pattern Band. The Admiral. (Tickets)

Frankly looking at this line up I could easily believe it has been put on just for my benefit. It hasn't though, so you should come along.

Flowers in the Dustbin: Audiodeluxe, It Girl, How Garbo Died. Pivo Pivo.

Since No dancing finishes at 10pm, I'll be nicking along the road to this afterwards.

Oh You Dancer Vs Kaskrute, Bloc. 10pm kick off, free entry before 11.

Boycotts, Otherpeople, Miniature Dinosaurs. King Tut's. (Tickets)

Esperanza, Bombskare. Stereo.

Esperanza launch their debut album, Permanent Ska.

Sunday:

Words Per Minute 11. The Arches, 4pm.

As always find all the info over at the Words Per Minute website and the Facebook page above.

Tom Williams and the Boat, Trapped Mice, Kat Healy, Let's Say We Did. Captain's Rest. (Tickets)

If memory serves me correctly this is only Trapped Mice's second Glasgow gig. The first one was put one by this really halfwitted guy that doesn't really know what he is doing.

Brain Burner: Wounded Knee, Muris, theapplesofenergy, Iliop. The Liquid Ship. Free.

The Late Call, The Japanese War Effort, The Wee Rogue. The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh.

Remember you can submit a gig for inclusion on the guide by emailing details to gigs@ayetunes.org.uk, full details are on the Submissions page up the top.

Gig Review: Bombay Bicycle Club, FOUND, The Seventeenth Century

Miller Filtered Music: Bombay Bicycle Club, FOUND, The Seventeenth Century.

Oran Mor, Glasgow.

30th March 2011

Due to public transport being rubbish, then getting stuck outside in a queue, we join The Seventeenth Century already in progress. Entering a room to the familiar swell of the band and Mark Farmer's distinctive vocals is no bad thing at all really, and thankfully I haven't missed much. Having seen The Seventeenth Century umpteen times before, and having hosted them at one of my own gigs, I know what to expect from them by now, but that doesn't make it any less thrilling. Their on stage energy is infections, and when everything, the almost military drumbeats, violin played as if Mark's life depends on it, blasts of brass, tender guitars and the soaring, sweeping vocals and harmonies - oh especially those harmonies - combine, most notably tonight on set closer, err, Notes a tingle runs down the spine and hair stands on end. This is a band that still gives me goosebumps when I hear them. A recent jaunt to Holland seems to have kept them sharp too, as they remain an incredibly tight band live.

The Seventeenth Century - Young Francis (Live at The Mill 28.01.2010)

Next up are FOUND, just a few weeks after the last time I saw them (also the first time I'd seen them) launching new album Factorycraft to a packed Captain's Rest. Over a short six song set we get edited highlights of that album, something that just flags out how good the album is. More straightforward than some of their previous material the songs from Factorycraft the "new" (FOUND have been playing these songs for so long that the tag doesn't really apply) material goes for smart, catchy indie-rock. FOUND are never a band short on ideas though, so just because the songs are more straightforward doesn't mean they are even close to dumbed down. Ziggy Campbell's voice has a homely, charming rough edge to it, which when wrapped round some of the cheeky, mischievous lyrics (a choice example being I'll Wake With A Seismic Head No More's "I only ever wanted to put my tongue in your dimples") can't fail to put a smile on my face. Coupled with guitar, bass, and all sorts of percussive and glitchy noises coming from Kev Sim's toys, FOUND make music that practically commands at least an involuntary bobbing of the head, it not a full on excursion into dancing like a loon. Nothing ever outstays it's welcome in the set, where some other bands would milk a song for all it is worth FOUND have a fun habit of coming to a stop on this material, keeping you on your toes. The Phil Spector-esque drums of recent single Machine Age Dancing make a play for being highlight of the night, but that honour falls to You're No Vincent Gallo, a song I've had stuck in my head for roughly 24 hours now without minding a bit. It took me long enough to catch FOUND live, now I find myself wondering how I'll cope without seeing them every few weeks.

FOUND - You're No Vincent Gallo (Toad Session)

They say that familiarity breeds contempt, but on this night the opposite is more appropriate.
Headliners Bombay Bicycle Club aren't well known to me, and unfortunately nothing they do makes me want to delve into their back catalogue to become better acquainted. Opening song Magnet, from debut album I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, was bouncy and fun enough, but to my ears the rest of their set could have been the same song played repeatedly. Capable musicians, but it all got to feel a bit one dimensional and samey, very quickly.
The young and sizable audience seemed to be having a swell time of it, but this grumpy old man left not offended - Bombay Bicycle Club weren't awful - but unimpressed.

Photos by Claire Thomson

Miller Filtered Music

The Seventeenth Century

FOUND

Bombay Bicycle Club

Catthouse

News & Bits - March 28th

Time for me to delve through an inbox full of press releases, trawl Bandcamp, and generally recycle information to pad out my blog posts, hooray. I've been updating this all night, so if you read it when it was first posted there's some new stuff in here now.

New Releases:

New music released this week.

Admiral Fallow's excellent debut album Boots Met My Face gets a full UK wide reissue today. The album is available from all the usual places including eMusic and iTunes digitally and Amazon, HMV and straight from the band's store on CD and of course from all good record shops.

Robin Adams isn't happy releasing just the one album, he has two out today. Be Gone is a stripped back, intimate affair, while Robin Adams' Train Crash Choir is an altogether noisier album. Both are released today.

Errors have a new single out. Magna Encarta is available as a limited 7" and as a download from eMusic, iTunes and Amazon.

GoGoBot release their second single, First Class Fool. Buy it from iTunes or HMV and watch the video here.

Let's Talk About Trees join the Eli and Oz family with the release of their Lumberjack's Lament single. You can get the single from Bandcamp and iTunes.

Profisee becomes the fourth release on the Phuturelabs label with the Logan's Run EP. The EP is available here, or from Bandcamp where you can also pick up previous Phuturelabs releases, all for free.

The Ramisco Maki Maki Rocking Horse has a new EP available on all the good download sites, but you can pick it up for only £1, cheaper than anywhere else, at Bandcamp. Check this week's gig guide for details on a special event The Ramisco Maki Maki Rocking Horse is taking part in on Saturday too.

Weather Barn's latest single The Boat Ride also gets a release today. It too is available from eMusic, iTunes and Amazon, and there's a video here.

How Garbo Died have been busy recording, yet again. I swear if you turn your back on that pair for a minute they record another mini album worth of stuff. The latest collection of recordings, Batch 4: Kai Su Teknom, is available from Bandcamp for free now.

The Darien Venture's new EP, Indications, will be available to pre-order from here on Tuesday morning. Pre-orders will be limited to 30 copies, with a whole host of extras.

Fundraising:

The DF Concerts Charity Cup has been put together to raise money for the Save The Children Japan Emergency Appeal. You can find more details and donate here.

Mentioned this in the gig guide yesterday, but just a wee reminder that at the Endor, Randolph's Leap, Amber Wilson and Esperi gig at The Captain's Rest on Thursday, there will be some more fundraising action. I'll have more details shortly, but I hear rumours of face painting, home baking and a special little one off album. You can get tickets for the gig here.

At Blacklands Bowling Club in Kilwinning this Saturday there's a fundraising gig for Yorkhill Hospital. It all kicks off at 1pm and carries on till Midnight, costing a fiver. Playing are The Girobabies, The Paraffins, Annie Stevenson and loads more, full details here.

Stuff:

Dave Hughes, fast becoming a regular at getting things plugged round here, has been giving his website a rejig. Have a visit, and pick up some free music while you are there.

The always excellent Miaoux Miaoux is nearing completion of his second album. As a celebration he is very kindly giving away the first Miaoux Miaoux album, Rainbow Bubbles, as a free download this week. You can get that here.

Another giveaway comes from Shambles Miller. Recorded at his recent appearance at Words Per Minute you can download a little medley, Alice's 99 Problems, here.

Would you like a free sampler of recent and upcoming releases from the Song, By Toad Records label? If you answered no you are an idiot, if you said yes, fill yer boots. That's 16 tracks from the likes of King Post Kitsch (who incidentally I met at the weekend, ruining his enigma reputation), Jesus H. Foxx, The Savings & Loan, Lil Daggers, Meursault and lots more, all for free.

Laeto have popped up again to offer up their first album, Make Us Mild, for free. Get that, and their third album released at the end of last year, here. More offerings from the archives are promised too, so keep an eye out in future.

Rounding off the free stuff for now is a new single from Pose Victorious. Get Cold Hands/Warm Heart here.

Literary Death Match is coming to Glasgow. Working in conjunction with Cargo Publishing, this will be their first ever visit to Glasgow. Award-winning novelist Helen Fitzgerald, performance poet Tim Turnbull, the multi-talented Alan Bissett and promoter and writer Kirstin Innes will be doing battle for literary supremacy under the watchful eye of Scots Makar Liz Lochhead and two other judges at The Arches on April 14th. Advance tickets are £5, available from The Arches, or £8 on the door on the night. More info here.

United Fruit have announced details of their debut album. Titled Fault Lines, the album will be released on May 30th. The band head off on a UK tour on May 12th, ending with an album launch gig at Bloc in Glasgow on May 28th. Here Go Away, Don't Leave Me Alone from the album here.

Matthew Healy (We, The Plural/Loch Awe/General Busy Man) has a new "solo" thing, the recording can be heard here.

The Social Services have a new identity! They are now Tall Tales, and they have a new video to go with the new name.

This Week's Gigs: 28th March - 3rd April

How about that census/clock change/football match/controversial review huh?

Here's some gigs, in a list, like you usually get on a Sunday. A bit later than normal though, sorry.

Tuesday:

Little Miss Higgins. Leith Folk Club.

Wednesday:

Bombay Bicycle Club, The Seventeenth Century, FOUND. Oran Mor.

Another Miller Filtered Music gig, limiting your choice of beer. Good bands though. Tickets are sold out, but there's various competitions running to win some, so look around.

Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit), Haight-Ashbury, Jill O'Sullivan (Sparrow and the Workshop) & Jenny Reeve (Strike The Colours). Stereo. (Tickets)

Red Cross fundraiser gig. No tickets available on the door, so if you want to buy buy in advance.

Thursday:

Sneak: Tempercalm, Pensioner, The Paradigm Complex. Pivo Pivo

Endor, Randolph's Leap, Amber Wilson, Esperi. The Captain's Rest. (Tickets)

I hear there will be some fundraising action at this gig too, so take some extra money with you.

Friday:

Esperi, Blochestra. Bloc.

The Black Hand Gang. Slouch.

Miss the Occupier. McChuills.

Beans On Toast, Dave Hughes. Tunnels 2, Aberdeen.

Saturday:

AcoustoBlaster Tour: Tragic O'Hara, The Ramisco Maki Maki Rocking Horse. Various Glasgow Venues.

For all the details on this, visit here.

Beans On Toast, Dave Hughes. Thompsons Bar, Dundee.

The Girobabies, The Paraffins, Annie Stevenson, more. Blacklands Bowling Club, Kilwinning.
Fundraising gig for Yorkhill Hospital. It all kicks off at 1pm and carries on till Midnight, costing a fiver. Playing are The Girobabies, The Paraffins, Annie Stevenson and loads more, full details here.

Sunday:

Beans On Toast, Dave Hughes, Shambles Miller, Daniel Versus The World. 13th Note.

Dum Dum Girls, Mazes, Top Dollar. Stereo. (Tickets)

Preview: Wide Days

Edinburgh based music seminar & showcase have announced all the details of their upcoming event, which takes place on April 7th.

Seminars and workshops take place at Teviot House, tickets are available here.

SEMINAR AND WORKSHOP PROGRAMME

MAKING TOURING PAY

How can an impoverished band build a fanbase by taking to the road.

Robert Hicks [Beyond Promotion], Jason Edwards [13 Artists], Caroline Winn [Hebrides Ensemble], Keren McKean [manager], Moderator Michael Lambert.

NOT JUST SXSW

Which showcase events do not involve visas, can be reached by van or budget flight, and will still leave an artist enough money to record and tour an album?

Shaun Arnold [GoNorth], Ruth Daniel [Unvonvention], Martin Elbourne [The Great Escape/Glastonbury]. Moderator, Vic Galloway.

MUSIC IN FILMS

How to bridge the gap between film makers and musicians, it will cover legal aspect and rights, as well as the artistic and technical aspects which need to be considered.

Caroline Gorman [Rage Music], Nigel McCune [MU], additional guest TBA.

DIGITAL DIY VS RECORD LABELS

New online services are launched every month, but what do they really offer and can they substitute the role traditionally associated with labels? Can the artist get the best of both worlds and do these services work for labels as well?

Stewart Henderson [Chemikal Underground], Joe Porn [Music Glue], and more to be announced.

In the evening a series of short minute showcase gigs take place, starting off at Sneaky Pete's, moving on to Cabaret Voltaire and finishing up at the Electric Circus.

Performing at the showcases are Letters, PAWS, Withered Hand, Rachel Sermanni, Capitals and GoGoBot.

Entry to the showcase gigs is free, but to get yourself on the list you need to email for who you want to see. Send an email to the relevant address below to book your spot.

SNEAKY PETE’S

Letters – letters@widedays.com

Paws – paws@widedays.com

CABARET VOLTAIRE

Withered Hand – witheredhand@widedays.com

Rachel Sermanni – rachelsermanni@widedays.com

ELECTRIC CIRCUS

Capitals – capitals@widedays.com

GoGoBot – gogobot@widedays.com

For more information visit http://widedays.com

Letters - Grand National

PAWS - Salem

Withered Hand - Religious Songs

Rachel Sermanni - My Friend Fire

Capitals - Hello World

GoGoBot - We Are Here

News & Bits - March 21st

Some vaguely newsy things, to give me something slightly productive to do on a Monday afternoon and to make me feel like the hours I spend looking through Bandcamp are research rather than time wasting.

First, some new releases worth mentioning.

Aaron Wright's new single Trampoline is released today. Trampoline is available from Bandcamp, eMusic, iTunes and no doubt other places too.

Andrew Lindsay & The Coat Hooks's (is that right? Help me, grammar people) new EP The Whittling, which I mentioned the last time I did one of these, is out now. You can get it from Bandcamp, eMusic, iTunes and so on.

We mentioned the launch gig for the Birdhead EP Talons in the gig guide last week. If you didn't get to the gig you can buy the EP now from Bandcamp.

Carnivores have released their first EP. Nights of Infinity is limited to 50 copies, so if you want one you should probably act fast. You can buy a copy here.

Francis MacDonald recorded an album while on tour with Teenage Fanclub. Maculate Conceptions takes its name from the fact it was recorded and mixed entirely on a MacBook, and is available for free from Bandcamp.
Laki Mera are a band I haven't heard much from in a while, but they've popped up with a new single today. Once again, you can buy that on eMusic or iTunes.

King Post Kitsch releases his debut album in June, just in time for my birthday (hint hint), on Song, by Toad Records. To keep us going until then though he has a new EP out. Some Call it Hell, But It's Home is free, and good, and available here. There's no excuse not to give it a try really.

New Town Triptych have a rather good single out. Buy Just How You Designed on Bandcamp, and you can find out more about them by popping over to the Peenko Blog today too.

Tiny Birds are Londoners, but that's no reason to overlook them. DC, of The Waiting Room fame, mentioned on Twitter that their album was a wee bit special. After checking it out for myself I have to agree. Hymns For The Careless is well worth a listen. You can check it out here.

Trapped Mice are a band I really like, so much so that we got them to play a gig and everything, so I'll mention their new EP, Waving & Pointing, again. Buy it here. Go on, it's good.

Reading Aye Tunes you can be forgiven for thinking I only like one kind of music, and if it isn't all folky I'll hate it. Part of the reason for these round up posts is to give a mention to some of the other bands and styles that our ears dig. Guanoman then is as far from what you'd expect me to like as possible, I think. I picked up and loved Tawdry Seduction Disasters when came out a while back, but has just been made available over on Bandcamp if you missed it.

Moving away from the new releases, here's some more things that hopefully count as news.

Pareto have, just a few minutes ago, uploaded the first track from their upcoming EP. You can listen to Miracle of... here.

The Seventeenth Century will be releasing their second EP, The Seventeenth Century (Part II) on the 2nd of May. You can hear the first track from the EP here. To celebrate the band are having a launch gig at the Oran Mor on April 29th, joined by The Scottish Enlightenment and Sunshine Social. Tickets for the launch are available now here.

We like Dave Hughes round here, so here's an advance plug for his upcoming tour with Beans on Toast. They'll be playing the following dates round Scotland:
Friday 1st April – Tunnels 2, Aberdeen
Saturday 2nd April – Thomsons Bar, Dundee
Sunday 3rd April - 13th Note, Glasgow

If you want to submit your band to showcase at goNORTH this year then this is your last week to do so. You can to submit an entry through Sonicbids.

Detour Scotland made video diaries of their time over in Austin, Texas at SXSW. I'd meant to syndicate the videos over here, but clearly failed. You can catch up over on their website and YouTube channel. For more SXSW video diaries be sure to visit Song, by Toad too. Yes, this WAS all typed with gritted teeth of jealousy, how could you tell?

Overlook Records is a new Glasgow based record label. In the coming months they will be releasing EPs by Trapped in Kansas and The Darien Venture. Stay tuned for more details on those.

Since this is likely to sell out before next week's gig guide rolls round, a quick mention for a gig taking place next week. Taking place on Wednesday March 30th at Stereo in Glasgow is a Red Cross fundraiser gig for Japan. On the bill are Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison, Haight-Ashbury, and Jenny Reeve and Jill O'Sullivan of Strike The Colours and Sparrow & The Workshop. Tickets are available here.

This Week's Gigs: 21st - 27th March

Somewhat lacking in blog enthusiasm this week, resulting in lots of half written posts and the return of the feeling that I could pack this in without anyone noticing. Wah wah, poor me.

Anyway, gigs this week, go!

Monday:

KIT, Divorce, Neighbourhood Gout. Stereo. (Tickets)

Tuesday:

F*ck the Tories, Tell Us Your Stories. Pivo Pivo.

Head over to Facebook for all the details on this one.

Wednesday:

Carnivores, Pacific Theatre, Augusta Fireball, Babyjack. Paisley Arts Theatre.

Jesca Hoop. Captain's Rest. (Tickets)

So Many Animal Calls, Macabre Scene, The Upbeat Breakdown, Queen Jane. Stereo.

That noise you just heard was me cheering at the return of Macabre Scene. We've missed them. We also love So Many Animal Calls, but you already knew that.

Thursday:

For Abel, Built On Tradition, Culann, Pinky Suavo. King Tut's. (Tickets)

Munch Munch, Galoshins, Battery Face. Captain's Rest. (Tickets)

Friday:

Mix_Up_Mayhem: You Already Know, Carnivores, Otherpeople. Bloc. Free Entry.

Gig of the week? I think so. More details over here.

Three Blind Wolves, Open Swimmer, Bwani Junction. The Arches. (Tickets)

Pin Up Nights: Milk, Galleries, Sonic Hearts Foundation. The Flying Duck.

Saturday:

Husband, Miaoux Miaoux, Justin Grounds. Medina, Edinburgh. (Tickets)

Nevada Base, Capitals, Crash Club. Taylors, Kilwinning.

I've spent some pretty horrendous nights in Kilwinning, but I won't hold that against it.

Johnny and the Giros, Crayons, The System. King Tut's. (Tickets)

Sunday:

Brain Burner: Radiation Fuck, Ug!, Messiah Complex, Cop Porn, Lady Thigh. The Liquid Ship, free entry.

Lower Dens, Edinburgh School For the Deaf, The Scottish Enlightenment. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh.

Supermarionation. Whistle Binkies, Edinburgh.