Keeping It Peel - The Olivia Tremor Control #keepingitpeel

I'll likely not get an excuse to shoehorn The Olivia Tremor Control into the blog until this time next year, so what the heck, let's squeeze them in.

The Olivia Tremor Control are another one of those bands I hadn't thought about in ages, until a few months ago when I heard there was new material on the way. That sent me scurrying to listen to their back catalogue again for the first time in a long time, and wonder why I'd let them slip my mind so much. Dusk At Cubist Castle and Black Foliage are both cracking albums. The first new material from them, recent single The Game You Play Is In Your Head, Parts 1, 2 & 3 suggests that the band's return is no bad thing either.

The Olivia Tremor Control - John Peel Session 18.03.1997
1. I'm Not Feeling Human
2. Suite One
3. Suite Two
4. Untitled

Keeping It Peel - Lung Leg #keepingitpeel

Before I carry on, just a quick mention that Fresh Air Radio are having a Keeping It Peel celebration of their own. Assuming this posts at 8pm as scheduled they are just kicking off, and you can listen live here. Don't worry, you can go listen to that and come back here later, I won't mind.

It has mostly been white boys with guitars up till now, so before I get shouted at here's some, err, Scottish girls with guitars. They make an almighty noise, enjoy. As my pal Last Year's Girl might say "shouty girls FTW".

Lung Leg - John Peel Session 29.01.1995
1. Palmolive
2. Small Screen Queen
3. Lungleg
4. Edith Massey
5. Kung Fu On The Internet
6. Blah Blah Blah

Keeping It Peel - Dawn of the Replicants #keepingitpeel

Miss a chance to post a load of Dawn of the Replicants songs? Not a bloody chance!
Along with Dogs Die In Hot Cars, Dawn of the Replicants are one of my favourite Scottish bands starting with the letter D. Oh, and Deacon Blue obviously. Wait, De Rosa and Dananananaykroyd. There's more bands beginning with D than I thought there were when I wrote that sentence. Never mind, let's carry on.

Stealing a quote from elsewhere: "Swamp rock, pop, glam-rock, electro-girlie, jazz, doo-wop, nasty ass blues, hip hop, redneck and experimentalism,' is how Dawn of ... describe their music. But then their founder members used to be music journalists, so their love of genre-checking is forgivable. They're also right."

These days Paul Vickers can be found doing all sorts of stuff, on his own and sometimes with The Leg. Roger Simian is one half of The Bird and the Monkey. I've had them penciled in for a blog post for a while, which I will get to eventually, but in the meantime consider this a quick plug for them, visit their website for loads of stuff.

Four Peel Sessions, and one entry in the 1999 Festive Fifty. All the sessions, and one from Pluto Monkey, are available to download for free from the DotR website here, so I'll just pick a couple of songs from each to stick below.

Dawn of the Replicants - John Peel Session 12.08.1997
Diggin' Bear
Fatal Firework

Dawn of the Replicants - John Peel Session 28.04.1998
Skullcrusher
Windy Millar

Dawn of the Replicants - John Peel Session 25.04.1999
Candlefire
Fearless Vampire Hunters

Dawn of the Replicants - John Peel Session 17.10.2002
Rhinestone Cowboy
Rockefeller Center 1932

Keeping It Peel - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead #keepingitpeel

We had a couple of Scots in a row there, so time to check in on some friends from across the pond again.
I've sort of lost track of ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead as time has gone on. I'll always pick up a new album they release, but often they get listened to a couple of times and forgotten about a bit. I do regularly go back to their first few though.
I have a weirdly vivid memory of buying the debut album, on vinyl, in the record shop that used to be downstairs in Flip in Glasgow, many years ago. I'd only heard Richter Scale Madness, and vaguely knew the name, but that song and that album cover were enough to inspire an impulse purchase. Not one I've regretted.

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - John Peel Session 05.02.2002
1. Invocation
2. Another Morning Stoner
3. Baudelaire
4. Richter Scale Madness
5. Homage

Keeping It Peel - Biffy Clyro #keepingitpeel

How about something nice and quiet for you to have your dinner to? How about no.
I can generally take or leave Biffy, but the stuff at the start of their career is the more takeable, and Jaggy Snake is good stuff any way you dress it up. Suppose the second session track might fall into "topical" territory, but I didn't notice that till I was about hit hit "post" on the session. Fun cover version too.

Biffy Clyro - John Peel Session 22.01.2004
1. There's No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake
2.Liberate The Illiterate (A Mong Among Mingers)
3. You Can Go Your Own Way
4. With Aplomb

Keeping It Peel - Teenage Fanclub #keepingitpeel

Best way to follow that last post, featuring one of my favourite bands? Do one with another of my favourite bands.

If you don't know who Teenage Fanclub are then get yourself to Google and/or a record shop right now. We'll wait for you to come back.

Bellshill's finest can do no wrong by me. The alarming part is that I was only 11 when this session happened. Goodness I feel old now.

Teenage Fanclub appeared twice in the 1990 Festive Fifty, and three times is the 1991 one.

Teenage Fanclub - John Peel Session 28.08.1990
1. God Knows It's True
2. So Far Gone
3. Alcoholiday
4. Long Hair

Keeping It Peel - The Afghan Whigs #keepingitpeel

Bored of this image yet? Tough luck, I'm not done.

Aye, we've pretty much tossed sticking with Scots well out the window for Keeping It Peel, letting me instead post bands that I wouldn't normally. To say that the Afghan Whigs are a favourite of mine is a bit of an understatement. Greg Dulli is pretty much a musical hero. He was the driving force behind the Afghan Whigs, the only musician other than Dave Grohl to play on the debut Foo Fighters album, faked being a Beatle along with Grohl, Thurston Moore and Mike Mills for the soundtrack to Backbeat, teamed with Mark Lanegan as The Gutter Twins, stuck out a couple of solo records, and can now be found heading up The Twilight Singers. To my ears he has never released a bad record. You can disagree, but be warned it may end in a fistfight.

The Afghan Whigs would often through a cover version or two into their live sets, and stick them on the b-sides of singles, so it seems fitting that this session has a pair of covers, Revenge by Patti Smith and Easily Persuaded by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, along with two songs from Gentlemen, another one of those albums that anyone with ears should have a copy of. Actually, all girls should be issued with a copy of Gentlemen on their 13th birthday and sent to listen to it with the warning "this is men, stay away from them", teen pregnancy rates would plummet. I do personally like Black Love just a wee bit more though, it was my first Afghan Whigs album, so it claimed the spot in my heart before the others had a chance to.

Afghan Whigs - John Peel Session 22.02.1994
1. Revenge
2. Easily Persuaded
3. My Curse
4. What Jail Is Like

Keeping It Peel - Sultans of Ping F.C. #keepingitpeel

Another request this time, and one I can't refuse. Not only do I love the Sultans of Ping, but the request came from my big brother Ron, whose old copy of Casual Sex in the Ciniplex is pretty much the reason I was one of a handful of 14 years olds who knew all the words to Where's Me Jumper?
Every time an election comes around and people start talking about the party manifesto my mind stops paying attention, ignoring what anyone says, as everything is replaced by "I like a manifesto, put it to the test-o", and I'm gone for several minutes. I never know what is going on at elections, but I do enjoy myself.

Here you go then Ron, thanks for getting me into the Sultans and loads of other stuff, but I'm still delighted I dodged the Genesis bullet.

Sultans of Ping F.C. - John Peel Session 05.03.1992
1. He Thought I Was Your Best Friend
2. Give Him a Ball and a Yard of Grass
3. Karaoke Queen

Keeping It Peel - World of Twist #keepingitpeel

Time for a request. I don't really know much about World of Twist, but I stuck a call out on Twitter the other week asking if anyone had any sessions they'd like to see posted, and this was one of the ones asked for, so here it is. Service with a smile from Aye Tunes! Well, as close to a smile as you'll get out of my naturally grumpy looking face anyway.

World of Twist - Peel Session 25.06.1991
1.Untitled
2. St Bruno
3. Kick Out The Jams
4. Blackpool Tower

Keeping It Peel - Prolapse #keepingitpeel

Out of the two Peel Sessions recorded by Prolapse, and the two live broadcasts they did, do I have a full one to post? No.
Will this stop me rambling about Prolapse for a bit? No.

Prolapse came from Leicester, but had a member named "Scottish" Mick. Unlike Tiny Tim, or anyone who as ever called themselves "mad", this wasn't an ironic nickname. The second "Scottish" Mick Derrick opens his mouth it is obvious the name isn't a joke.

They are also a band I hadn't listened to in years until fairly recently, mainly due to having lost all the albums of theirs that I had. Some spare eMusic credits that had to be used up led to me buying debut album Pointless Walks To Dismal Places again to see if I still liked it. I did, a shopping spree followed, and I've been a wee bit obsessed with the band over the past few weeks as a result. A mixture of shoegaze, punk and Krautrock, there's a fair chance you'll find Prolapse either brilliant or almost unlistenable. I'm in the former camp, obviously.

Prolapse made the 1997 Festive Fifty with two songs, Autocade and Slash/Oblique. None of the Prolapse Peel Sessions are available, and I don't have copies of them, except for the Peel version of When Space Invaders Were Big, which was released as a single.

Prolapse - Peel Session 17.07.1994
When Space Invaders Were Big

Keeping It Peel - Godspeed You! Black Emperor #keepingitpeel

I've never really "got" GY!BE the way that some do. That's no reason not to dig our their one Peel Session though, so here it is. This track also made the Festive Fifty in 1999, at number 21.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Peel Session 22.11.1998
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Hungover As the Oven At Maida Vale

Keeping It Peel - Boards of Canada #keepingitpeel

We'll be bouncing between Scottish bands and bands from elsewhere this year for Keeping It Peel, but we'll kick things off with one of my favourites from these shores, Boards of Canada.
It has been a while, as far as I can remember at least, since Boards of Canada have released anything, but when you are responsible for the absolutely sublime Music Has the Right To Children you can do whatever you like in my book.

I'm of the opinion that everyone with functioning ears should have a copy of Music Has the Right To Children by the way. Heck, even people whose ears don't work that well should have it.

The one Boards of Canada Peel Session was released as Peel Session EP, available to buy from Amazon and iTunes, so to avoid getting into trouble I won't post the whole session, just the first track, and the last. The last song, XYZ, was initially available on the Peel Session EP, but removed due to licensing issues.

Boards Of Canada - Peel Session 16.06.1998
1. Aquarius (Version 3)
2. Happy Cycling
3.Olson (Version 3)
4. XYZ

Boards of Canada popped up three times in the Festive Fifty, with two entries in 1998 and another in 2000.

Boards of Canada website

#keepingitpeel 2011

What is Keeping It Peel? Well, simply put it is a sort of John Peel Day, for bloggers.
KeepingItPeel is the brainchild of Webbie of Football and Music, brought to my attention by JC of The Vinyl Villain. It is a sort of offspring of JC's brilliant Paul Haig Day idea and it boils down to a bunch of bloggers taking today to post some Peel Sessions.

I took part last year, and the whole thing was fun, and a good excuse to dredge through the archives, so I'll be joining in again this year.
There will be Peel Session posts throughout the day, and probably at some point me panicking to hit my deadlines as I run out of things I've scheduled already.

"I just want to hear something I haven't heard before" said John Peel. With that in mind you could argue that by digging through the archives I've missed the point of #keepingitpeel. However since the rest of the year is dedicated to writing about new music, going out to see live bands and attempting to deliver something you might not have heard before I think I can be forgiven for using today for nostalgia, don't you?

I've stuck all the downloads from last year back up again too, so if you missed them you can get them again now.
Last year's posts were:
Intro, with Mogwai
Urusei Yatsura
ballboy
bis
Arab Strap
Close Lobsters
Kenickie
The Delgados
El Hombre Trajeado
Primal Scream
Aereogramme
The Nectarine No.9

Keep track of who else is taking part and find out more at the Keeping It Peel website.

Something To Do On A Sunday Night: Elliott Smith Night

Sunday night, it's a bit rubbish really isn't it? Ironing shirts, having a bath, watching someone you mildly detest get eliminated from a TV show you hate yourself for watching.

Want to do something much better with your Sunday night? Want to help out a charity while enjoying yourself?
Get yourself along to Mono from 7:30pm then, for a night of music celebrating Elliott Smith.

Elliott is pretty much one of my favourite songwriters ever, and finding out he'd died is a moment that will always be stuck in my head, as I learned as I was sitting having a pint in the 13th Note before heading out to see friends, who the same day were celebrating the birth of their first child. Swings and roundabouts, eh?

Taking to the stage to cover some Elliott Smith songs are The Big Nowhere (who you might remember from my birthday party, although my memory is quite hazy), Endor, Male Pattern Band, Perestroika, members of Monoganon and more, with an open mic at the end.

Doors open at 7:30, entry will cost you £4, and all proceeds go to Aberlour Children's Charity.

There's also the promise of a raffle and cake (pictured below)

Elliott Smith - Kiwi Maddog 20/20

Incrediboy - BBC Wiltshire Introducing Session 20.10.2011

Wiltshire? Yes, Wiltshire. Incrediboy, with and without his Forget Me Nots, spent enough time in Glasgow that I'm claiming him as ours by adoption. The last time Incrediboy and the Forget Me Nots was a good couple of years ago too, so a chance to feature them again can't be passed up.

The two interview segments give you more backstory and info than I could hope to cram in, so listen to them to get caught up, and enjoy the songs.

1. Interview
2. The Bridge
3. Interview
4. Ode To An Ode

You can find Incrediboy and the Forget Me Nots on Facebook.

Hector Bizerk - Ally McCrae Session 17.10.2011

We don't normally do sessions round here, leaving that game to Peenko instead (he'd beat me if I tried to muscle in on his territory anyway) but I think he is skipping this one, and I like the band, so...

Hector Bizerk are a two piece hip hop outfit from Scotland, Louie on vocals, Audrey on the drumkit. Often I find I can't get into Scottish hip hop, I blame too many years of living on US stuff, I can't get my head round rhymes coming at me in a Scottish accent properly, but there are a few bands around that force their way through my mental barrier. Stanley Odd are one such band, and I'll get back to them over the weekend, and Hector Bizerk are certainly another. Louie commands attention, and having a live drummer instead of a Macbook in the corner adds something more organic to things, as well as being much more interesting to watch.

Enough blether from me, here's the session they recorded live for BBC Introducing this week.

1. Burst Love
2. Man Up
3. Tsunami
4. The Rhythm Theory

Hector Bizerk have a self titled EP available from iTunes, and a second EP set for release any day now.
You can find Hector Bizerk on Facebook and Soundcloud.

The Hazey Janes - Girl In The Night [Free Download]

The Hazey Janes release a new album, The Winter That Was, next Monday through Armellodie Records.
Ahead of the release, there's a free download available of Girl of the Night, taken from the album.
Listen to and download it below:
Girl in the Night by The Hazey Janes by Armellodie

There's a launch gig for the album this week too. It takes place at The Captains Rest on Tuesday October 18th (that's tomorrow, for those of you who are date challenged), with support coming from The Brazen Cars and Loudon.

The Winter That Was is available to pre-order now from Bandcamp.

Rob St. John & Ian Humberstone - Split 7"

Split singles can be funny beasts. The Gerry Loves Records team have put out a trio of great ones, yet over in a box in the corner there's some shockers that I've clearly bought for just one of the bands. The Mogwai/Dweeb split seven particularly stands out.

This one though, this falls firmly into the "ace" category. The single features Rob St. John's Your Phantom Limb on one side, Ian Humberstone's House on the Hill on the other, neither artists that I'm as familiar with as I probably should be. Both songs have a haunted air about them that seems to make them particularly fitting to listen to as the rain batters off my bedroom window, but also a feeling of warmth that makes me glad I'm inside with them.

At a bit over two minutes each this is a quick listen, but a gorgeous one. Best sit near the record player to move the needle back to that start to listen again, and again, and again.

The split single is out now on Song, by Toad Records. The 7" is available from the Song, by Toad shop, and a download can be bought from iTunes and Amazon.

Rob St. John & Ian Humberstone Split 7" by Song, by Toad

New Release: The Moth and the Mirror - Honestly, This World

The last few weeks have been packed with good new records, and this one is no different.
A particularly fine album is Honestly, This World, the debut album from The Moth and the Mirror.

The band feature some familiar names, like Admiral Fallow's Louis Abbott, Make Model's Frightened Rabbit's Gordon Skene and Stacey Sievwright, who has played with the likes of Arab Strap and The Reindeer Section in the past. Along with a few other musicians they've taken a while to get around to an album, but it is one that has proven to be worth waiting for.

Since I'm particularly rubbish at reviews, as I'm sure you have noticed by now, I won't go into an awful lot of detail. Instead I'll just say it's really good, go and buy it.

Honestly, This World is released by Olive Grove Records, and available from Bandcamp, Amazon and iTunes.



There are a pair of launch gigs coming up for the album. The first is at Stereo in Glasgow on Wednesday October 12th, with support from Open Swimmer and Rick Redbeard. There's an instore at Fopp on Union Street in Glasgow at 1pm on Sunday October 16th, followed by another launch gig that night at Edinburgh's Cabaret Voltaire, with support again from Open Swimmer and an acoustic set from Endor..

The Moth and the Mirror: Website - Facebook

Numbers and Letters - Scottish Tour

Every now and then someone from outside Scotland gets in touch with me about bands. Half the time the info is useless, what am I meant to do with a list of tour dates around southern California? Other times I end up being introduced to a record I like, and more rarely I get an intro to a band that I quickly like and some useful information about them to share.

Numbers and Letters frontlady Katie Hasty ticked the last two boxes a few days ago when she emailed me to let me know that her band would be making their first trip to Scotland this week. A quick visit to Bandcamp to listen to them later I was hastily drawing up plans to see which of their gigs I could get to.
Numbers and Letters do the dark, folky Americana thing that I always tend to like, and Katie has a gorgeous voice too. Sold.

Numbers and Letters will be playing with Seattle musician James Apollo, and Kitty The Lion/Admiral Fallow's Joe Rattay at the following places around Scotland in the coming week:

Oct. 11: House show, Stirling
Oct. 12: Cafe Continental, Gourock
Oct. 13: *Surprise Show*, Glasgow (Once they tell me where, I'll tell you)
Oct. 14: Hootenanny, Inverness
Oct. 15: The Newmarket Bar, Thurso
Oct. 16: Brel, Glasgow

Go along, have a drink, clap and cheers and make Katie feel welcome. She might even give you a free CD in a hand made cover if you ask nicely. Facebook users can find gig details here.



Numbers and Letters: Website - Facebook - Bandcamp