Live Review - Sophie's Pigeons, Julia and the Doogans & Panda Su

Sophie's Pigeons, Julia and the Doogans & Panda Su
Brel, Glasgow
17th February 2010

First of all, I hate buses. Two of the swines failed to turn up at the times they were meant to, leaving me running way late for this gig.
So it was that I turned up slightly harassed, in a bad mood, and having missed the start of Sophie's Pigeons. Not the best of starts then.
Thankfully it only took about a minute for Sophie's Pigeons to lift my mood. A three piece from around Manchester, aside from a quick listen on MySpace when I knew I was going to be seeing them they were totally unknown to me before tonight, Sophie plays piano and sings, Beckie plays saxophone and melodica, while Phillip hits things. Poppy and infectious as heck, any annoyance at mythical buses was soon blown away. There's a danger when there's a girl sat at a keyboard things can go all Tori Amos, but while I could certainly hear an element of Tori in Sophie's vocals the band's wit and apparent determination to have fun at all costs meant there was never any risk of things turning too po-faced or annoying. While attempts at audience participation had mixed results - only Ian from Have Fun At Dinner joined in with the singing, showing off an impressive falsetto in the process - nothing else fell flat. Frankly I find it hard to do anything but enjoy and admire a band that both pull of a cover version of Shakira's She Wolf, and end with a song called Boring Fucking Cunts. Sophie's Pigeons turned out to be one of those unexpected delights that make getting out to gigs worthwhile.

It is hardly a secret that I have much love for Julia and the Doogans, so it'll come as no surprise that they only let down from them was that Julia's oven wasn't working, so there were no cupcakes on the go. Luckily between stuffing myself with cakes when seeing the band on Sunday and filling myself with pancakes on Tuesday cake wasn't very high on my list of priorities.
Playing with a full band tonight - for a while at least, band members dropped off throughout the set until only Julia was left - Julia and the Doogans remain as good as they have been every time I've seen them. Warm, gentle, lovely songs, a great live band, and beautiful vocals, once again. It wasn't all plain sailing though, it almost went horribly, horribly wrong, when for the penultimate song Julia decided to do a cover version. Coldplay's The Scientist. I wasn't alone in getting a little worried at that point, clearly I wasn't the only person in the room with a dislike for Coldplay, the identity of the person behind me and her audible reaction shall remain secret. Thankfully, pleasantly, surprisingly, Julia didn't just get away with the cover but with just her and her guitar she - in the words of every judge on every TV talent show on the planet - made The Scientist her own, and rescued it from my hatred.

Panda Su is another that I've hardly shied away from admiring in the past either, but this set was without doubt the best I've seen from Su and her band. The songs were always good, and past gigs were great, but there was something about the band tonight that really just clicked perfectly. Jonnie Common was in attendance for his now customary banjo playing cameo on Eric Is Dead, a song which does genuinely send a pleasant tingle up my spine, and the band showed of a bit of a reworking of Moviegoer on the night. I always seem to struggle to get across how good Panda Su is, how much I like the songs, and how bloody good Su & her band sound live, so just take it from me that they are a fantastic band, with beautiful songs delivered from the heart. There wasn't a dull moment, nor a lull, in the set just a great girl with her guitar, her two backing men hitting or blowing into various things, and a whole lot of greatness.
Su teased us that one of her songs might soon be used in a television program - a dirty one in her words, go ahead and make your own guesses - and Panda Su is more than worthy of the exposure something like that would bring. I must admit when Su said they'd supported Lost Prophets I thought she was joking, but she wasn't. I'm not sure what Lost Prophets fans would make of her, but if they had any sense they embraced that rather strange line up, and took our favourite Panda into their hearts.

Machar Granite: Lost In History - Album Review

Machar Granite are an Edinburgh based four piece who released Lost In History, their debut album, way back in the middle of 2009. Fair to say this isn't the most timely of reviews then, but better late than never.

One of a wave of bands who proudly go for a folky sound, it would be easy for Machar Granite to get lost in the shuffle. Thankfully on the evidence of Lost In History there should be enough to make them stand out from the weaker of the pack.

The album kicks off with a couple of rockier tracks which although perfectly good don't resonate the way the later, gentler tracks do. Round about the middle the album hits it's strongest points, with Out Goes a Light and Heart of My Exsistence being real standouts for me. From the middle on the album remains strong. There's an air of Prevention era De Rosa about the songs at time, but it's never overpowering, just a similar kind of feeling. Considering my opinions on De Rosa, it's no bad thing.

It's not a perfect album, but it is a good one. It takes a little bit to find it's feet for me, but when it does it tarts to leave an impression. There's certainly more than enough here to merit having a listen at least, and hopefully Machar Granite will remain a band worth paying attention to in future.

Lost In History can be purchased directly from the band through their website (link below) and downloaded from iTunes (there's a link below for that too.)

Machar Granite: Website - MySpace

Hinterland 2010 Takes Shape

On the 3rd of April the Hinterland Festival makes a return to Glasgow and a good bit of the line-up has now been announced. Taking place from 5pm till 3am, currently on the bill are:

Mystery Jets
British Sea Power
Jeffrey Lewis
Friendly Fires (DJ)
Hot Chip's Joe Goddard (DJ Set)
Hot Club de Paris
Wave Pictures
GrecoRoman Soundsystem
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
Fenech Soler
Johnny Foreigner
French Wives
Ambulances
Bleech
Kitty the Lion
Midnight Lion
Cooly G
Marcus Nasty
Spectrals
Eclair FiFi
Art installations by Konx Om Pax & Christina Kernohan
Make Sparks
Little Yellow Ukuleles
Pulled Apart By Horses
Panda Su
The Boy Who Trapped the Sun
The Darien Venture
The Kays Lavelle

Announced so far as venues are The Arches, Sub Club, MacSorleys, The Admiral, Pivo Pivo & Rockers. That's a nice cluster of city centre venues, with a very short between between most of them.

Early bird tickets are currently on sale, for only £10. There's more than enough bands on the bill already - I count ten right away that I like a lot - to make that price sound like quite a bargain.

For more info and tickets swing by the Hinterland website.

The Unwinding Hours - Album Review

First of all, a confession: I never liked Aereogramme all that much when they were around. It wasn't until they split that I listened to them more and discovered what I'd been missing out on. Bad timing on my part there. With that in mind, when I heard that former members Craig B. and Iain Cook were working on new material together, I was immediately interested. When the first fruits of their efforts - album opener Knut - appeared I was glad that expectations hadn't been dashed. Knut was, is, a wonderful song that had me hungry for more.

Seeing The Unwinding Hours on their debut live performance at the Chemikal Underground Celtic Connections gig at the end of January removed any doubt that Knut would be a one off. Although it was a short set, it was clear that The Unwinding Hours had a selection of beauties ready for release. Now the debut album has come along and the songs sound just as good on record as they did live.

The Unwinding Hours don't just sound like Aereogramme did. Of course there's a lot of common ground in the styles and a lot of familiar dynamics remain, but this album sound more focused, more mature. The songs are grand but never overblown, ambitious and beautifully arranged, switching from delicate to loud in the blink of an eye.

It's only February, so saying this is the best album released so far this year doesn't mean much. The album does however lay down a strong benchmark for everything that has to follow it for the next eleven months.Welcome back Craig and Iain.


The self titled debut album by The Unwinding Hours is out now, from all good record shops online and off. Probably some bad ones too. Unless you live in the US, in which case you have to wait till March 16th, sorry. There's a gig in Stereo in Glasgow on March 5th. If anyone fancies buying me a ticket for that I'll love them forever, cause I'm a bit skint.


The Unwinding Hours: Website - MySpace

This Week's Thing

There wasn't one of these last week because I couldn't find any releases out. No albums, no singles, nothing. If I somehow managed to miss something, do let me know. There was a ton of gigs, but other places do gig guides better than me, so I skipped it.

This week however there's some stuff out, including two I highly recommend.

Records:

The Unwinding Hours release their self titled debut album today. It is probably the best album I've heard so far this year, although admittedly we are only half way through February. If you liked Aereogramme you'll want a copy of this. If you didn't you should still have a listen. Available all the usual places, including the Chemikal Underground shop - link over on the right - on Chemikal Underground, funnily enough. Should have a full review of this up later too. While I'm at it - and I earn no commission from saying nice things or linking to it - it's well worth using the Chemikal Underground shop. User friendly, loads to buy, physical products and digital downloads and incredibly fast at getting your order to you, at least in my experience.

Sticking with debut releases, The Kays Lavelle release their first single, The Hours. Released by Wiseblood Industries, it's available as a free download from the Wiseblood website. We do like The Kays Lavelle a lot around here, and the single goes a long to way showing why.

More debuts, of a sort, come from The Wildhouse. Two releases from them today, the albums Hyenas and Poet:Saint. Both albums are re-issues, but also mark the first album releases by 17 Seconds Records.

Paul Vickers and the Leg have a new album - Itchy Grumble - out today. Released by SL Records you can get a CD from the SL website, and a download is available on Bandcamp.

As usual tell me if there's anything I've missed.

Err, like this one that I forgot to mention. Thanks Tim for the reminder!
The description for this one makes my head hurt a bit, and I can't quite remember where I am after reading it, so I'll just reproduce the whole thing - "Glasgow/Barcelona based French/Argentinian electropunk male female duo's ravey anthem to love remixed by Essex born ex-Londoner aging punk producer in Scotland in a warped dubstep/skipstep style"
In short it's a singe by A-Lix, remixed by Tim London. Listen to it on the MySpace and if you like it buy it off iTunes.

Gigs:
Good gravy there's a lot of gigs on this week. I might not see the inside of my house much. Usual deal: other, better gig guides are available, but here's my standouts.

Panda Su is off on a tour at the moment with Sophie's Pigeons. Pop along to either MySpace page for the full list of dates. For the purposes of the round up note that they'll be in Dundee on Tuesday and Glasgow on Wednesday. I know nothing about Sophie's Pigeons, but Panda Su is a big favourite around here.
Julia and the Doogans happen to be on the bill at that gig on Wednesday too. It's in Brel, you should go. If you are away to Edinburgh to see Frightened Rabbit that night we'll forgive you though. On Thursday Julia and the Doogans are playing in Ayr too. On Sunday they played Pivo Pivo in Glasgow - well two of them did, it was a stripped back line up of just Julia and Alan - and were, as they have been every time I've seen them so far, fab. Great cakes too. If you go along on Wednesday for no other reason, do it to stop me eating all their cakes.

Alternatively on Wednesday, you could pop along to Box to see The Red Show. I caught them last week at the Classic Grand. There were some technical hitches that affected them, but there was still plenty to enjoy, and they are on the list to see again soon.

Thursday sees a gig celebrating Glasgow Podcart's first birthday. To the delight of those who complained that their birthday gig was to feature English and Northern Irish bands, the line up has changed from that original announcement. Playing at The 13th Note on Thursday for the party are Little Yellow Ukuleles, Campfires In Winter and St Deluxe. It's free. If you can find something to complain about there, you might never be happy.

Friday has the fourth Elba Sessions Presents gig. The line up has King James, Craig Davidson, Maple Leaves, and a special acoustic set from Cuddly Shark. I know nothing of the first two, and love the second two. I've not seen any of them live so far, which is why you'll find me in Glasgow's Liquid Ship on Friday for this.

That's three days of gigs with at least one band on that I've loved round these parts. If anyone dares to put on something excellent on Saturday I'll have to assume that they hate me and are trying to kill me.

There's not much time for rest though, as Sunday has Meursault playing Nice 'n Sleazy, with Xiu Xiu and North Atlantic Oscillation. That's likely to be a gig too far for me, but we'll see.

There's bound to be other stuff on this week too, but those four are the ones that will be entertaining - and probably knackering - me this week.

A Mitchell Museum Freebie

Once again I'm treading on the toes of Peenko's Friday Freebie post, but hey, screw it.

In preperation for the release of their debut album Mitchell Museum - one of my tips for bands to watch this year, as you might remember - have gathered up a collection of some of their older songs, demos and b-sides and are giving them all away for free.

You can download the free We Lost 1st Prize EP over at the Mitchell Museum Bandcamp page.

Oliver Stays

At the risk of repeating myself, I'm running way late with this one.
Oliver Stays are a four piece from Glasgow - or close enough at least. Their faces might be familiar to some, with band members having previously been in Drive-By Argument, Atlas Skye and Jocasta Sleeps.

Formed in November of last year, there's not a lot to listen to yet but what there is sounds promising. Interestingly the three songs featured on the band's MySpace were put together over the Internet, with band members mailing each other tracks and adding their own bits until they were fully formed. One of their demos - Temperament - is available for listening to down at the bottom.

No one in the band is actually called Oliver Stays either.

The band are heading out to play their first live dates at the end of month. Firstly supporting Doll And The Kicks at:

21 Feb Aberdeen Tunnels
24 Feb Dundee Doghouse
25 Feb Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire
26 Feb Fife Greenside Hotel
27 Feb Glasgow Classic Grand
And a headline show :
28 Feb Bathgate Harley’s



Oliver Stays MySpace

Maxwell Panther: Do You feel Different Yet? - Album Review

I'm sure I got this off eMusic months ago, but it's been flagged up to my attention again just recently, so since I'm doing anything I can think of to avoid boring myself rigid by watching the Superbowl it's getting written about tonight.

Maxwell Panther comes from Sunderland, but this album is released by Song, By Toad which makes it Scottish enough for Aye Tunes, just in case you were planning on having a go at me for daring to venture outside our borders. There's plenty of other things you can have a go at me for though, if you are already angered up.

Everyone else that's written about this album has already mentioned the same thing that I'm about to, but it's a factor that pretty much has to be brought up, so let's get the elephant in the room out of the way straight off (there, now you can yell at me for saying "elephant in the room", don't say I don't work hard). This album is rough as Hell. At times it sounds like it was recorded on a mobile phone, while Mr Panther sang and played in a different room. If you don't like lo-fi recording you probably won't like this.

If you can get beyond that - and fortunately I can or this would be a very short and not very nice review - the next notable thing is that the roughness of recording doesn't really matter.
The lousy production and rough as fuck recording do bring with them a certain charm, but beyond that there's just some really good songs in here. It's essentially Maxwell and his guitar, plus whatever reverb and distortion tactics people use for these things - I've never claimed to know anything about technology - and it's really very enjoyable. The songs tend to be slice-of-life type stuff, with a healthy dose of anger and aggression, yet also, somehow, tons of charms.

When listening to the album I kept thinking of Half Man Half Biscuit and Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. No idea why, Maxwell Panther sounds nothing like either of them, but making me think of those two bands is - at least to me - a really good thing.

I doubt Maxwell Panther will be troubling the mainstream any time soon, but if I'm picking something recorded in a bedroom I'll take him over the likes of Unicorn Kid any day. Hell, I'd rather have this than some over polished stadium rock nonsense for that matter.
Oh yeah, and it is much better than the Superbowl.

The lovely people at Song, by Toad have given me permission to post a couple of tracks off the album so you can have a wee listen and decide for yourself if it's your thing or not.
My Ex-Identity
Lost Soul on a Roll (That's Me)

Do You Feel Different Yet? is out now, available at all the usual download shops, and you can buy a CD direct from Song, By Toad Records.

Maxwell Panther MySpace

Maxwell Panther BandCamp

Born To Be Wide presents German Night

Tomorrow night in Edinburgh club night Born To Be Wide celebrates it's sixth birthday. To do so, they've gone for a German themed evening.

Held in partnership with Edinburgh's German Consulate General, things kick off at 7.30pm with a seminar which promises all you need to know about the German music scene.

Following that there's a live set from Jeans Team, a German music quiz and German DJ sets.

For more info and tickets, go here

Super Adventure Club: Pick Up Sticks/SAC Attack - Single Review

I'm the World's worst Super Adventure Club fan. They released their debut album Chalk Horror last year, I don't own a copy. The gig pretty regularly, I've never been to see them. Determined to break this circle of shame I let out a little whoop of joy last week when it came to my attention that they'd snuck out this, their new single, a week early. Off I rushed to buy my copy, with the intention of listening, hopefully enjoying and getting a wee review done for here. Until now I only managed the listening and enjoying. I'm more than a bit rubbish.

Slightly ramshackle sounding, and endearingly so, the first thing to strike me about the single is that, much like Armellodie label-mates Cuddly Shark, Super Adventure Club don't seem to take themselves too seriously. You suspect that being in Super Adventure Club would be loads of fun.
Having fun and a healthy attitude doesn't mean you'll make good music obviously, so thankfully the songs here are good too.

Opener Pick Up Sticks is gently bouncy, filled with lovely boy-girl harmonies, and an unexpected instrumental breakdown near the end. It's so infectious that you do worry you might need a dose of antibiotics afterwards.
SAC Attack is a bit more in your face, at times it sounds like - and believe it or not this is a compliment - everyone involved is playing an entirely different song. Fortunately all those different songs that I've just invented manage to come together into one quite nicely. Plus the lyrics advise that you avoid zombies, and that's something I find hard to argue with.
B-side Maths Rock (UK Curriculum) rounds out the package nicely, complete with diversions into jazz drumming and what I think is a slide whistle solo.

Three songs full of fun, wit, bags of charm and good tunes? Nothing really to complain about? That'll be a big tick in the win column for the single then.

Pick Up Sticks/SAC Attack is out now on Armellodie Records. Look below to have a listen and buy from Bandcamp. The single is also available on the likes of iTunes and eMusic. There's a launch gig for the single on Thursday February 4th in Nice n Sleazy's. I should be there, do come say hi.

Frightened Rabbit: Nothing Like You - Single Review

Frightened Rabbit continue to build anticipation for their upcoming third album - The Winter of Mixed Drinks - with the second single from it.
Nothing Like You was one of a batch of songs shown off at last years Queen's Hall gig, where it was given the name Steve. If you caught Frightened Rabbit since then, or tuned in to some of their recent radio sessions, you'll probably have heard it.
Nothing Like You is a much more immediate affair than last single Swim Until You Can't See Land was. I must confess that one took a while to really grow on me, but Nothing Like You is one of those songs that grabs you from the off and doesn't let go until it's three minutes are up. The PR blurb compares it to The Cure's Inbetween Days and to be fair if you imagine that song kicked up a notch or two, that's not far off the mark.
Nothing Like You rattles along at a fair old pace, but is far from being a dumb three minute pop song. It's energetic, optimistic and packed with the lyrical dexterity we've come to expect from Frightened Rabbit.

B-side Learned Your Name is a more sedate affair. Slowed down and gentle, much more reflective and sober than the A-side it doesn't elicit the same excitement, but neither is it anything close to a let down.

After hearing Nothing Like You I'm officially very excited about hearing the rest of the Winter of Mixed Drinks. We just have to get this pesky short month of February out of the way first.

Embedded below is the video for the single, and if you visit the band's MUZU channel you can find out all about a competition to win gig tickets.

Nothing Like You is released by Fat Cat Records on February 22nd (23rd in the US and Canada), available on 7" or to download.



Frightened Rabbit on MUZU

And The Winner Is...

Remember I asked you all to go vote for me in the Scottish Roundup blog awards? Well, the votes have been counted and the results are in.
The top 5 music blogs, as voted for by readers and chosen by the panelists are...
5. Phuturelabs
4. Last Year’s Girl
3. Aye Tunes
2. The Pop Cop
1. Peenko

I'm pretty happy with third, and delighted for Peenko for winning it. The swine.
Last year's Girl also came top of the list for Photography blogs too. She's quite an overachiever.

Big thanks to everyone that voted for me, I owe you all a drink.

This Week's Thing

This week I'm fairly clueless about what is out and what's going on, to be honest. I had so many things to go to last week that looking beyond them mostly made my head explode. With that in mind I'll likely have to update this post a few times throughout today as I notice another record or gig I should have mentioned.
As always if I miss anything use the comments or email me to let me know.

Records:
Super Adventure Club properly release the single I mentioned last week. Pick Up Sticks/SAC Attack is out on Armellodie Records today. You should be able to find it at all the usual places, and both the CD release and download are available on Bandcamp. There's a launch gig for the single on the 4th, Thursday, in Nice n Sleazy's, with support from Young Avaitors, Mondegreen and Symbolics. I'd planned on doing a single review by now, but last week got away from me.

Factory Kids release their first EP today, cunningly titled EP1. It's out on 17 Seconds Records and just like with last week's Dirty Cuts single there's a free download available, this time of the EP's lead track They Used To Call Me Baby.

The new Isa & the Filthy Tongues album, Dark Passenger, is available on eMusic. There's a launch gig for that this week too, details below.

Punch & the Apostles have their self titled debut album out today. I had no idea this was due out till I saw it on eMusic, apparently I wasn't paying attention.

Gigs:
I've paid very little attention to gigs this week, to be honest. Again, after three last week planning ahead just caused headaches.
In addition to the Super Adventure Club single launch mentioned above, Thursday also sees a Socks Off night at The Admiral. The line up boasts Haight-Ashbury, Alan McKim, The Seventeenth Century and Aye Tunes favourites Julia & the Doogans. Since I've seen The Seventeenth Century three times in the last four weeks I'll be opting for the Super Adventure Club gig, but The Admiral is certainly a very good alternative.
On Friday over in Edinburgh Isa & the Filthy Tongues are having an album launch gig at Cabaret Voltaire. You might remember that I rather liked their new album.

There might be updates later, once I've had a look around to see what else is out.

This Week's Thing

After a few dead weeks there's actually some records out this week worth checking out.

Lava Experiments release Piecing Memories Together (Remixes). As the name suggests, it's a remix EP, with Dan le Sac, Betamax Warriors and Pumajaw remixing Piecing Memories Together. A Lava Experiments radio edit is also included, and the CD will have the full length original version - previously found on the Blackbody II EP - rounding out the package. You can order a CD direct from the band here and find it on all the usual download shops.
There's also a launch gig on Friday the 29th in The 13th Note in Glasgow. Support comes from Glider and Laki Mera. Looks like a good one, I might need to kick the backside out of my budget to get along.

Super Adventure Club have a new single scheduled for next week, and a launch gig to go with it, but have snuck the single out a week early over here. It's rather good.

Galleries release their self-titled debut EP. The band were kind enough to send me a copy way back at the start of December, which got all caught up in Christmas and New Year lazyness, so still hasn't been reviewed. It's a grower, and as a bonus it's also free. You can download it over here.

Also releasing their debut single are The Dirty Cuts. Titled 2 Page Spread it is released by our pals at 17 Seconds Records, you should be able to find it at the usual download places. You can also download the b-side - Lips - for free over at the 17 Seconds site.

Errors have a new single - A Rumour In Africa - out today on Rock Action. Their second album is pretty highly anticipated round here. The single is available as a download and a pretty coloured 7". (EDIT: No they don't, the single is out on February 22nd, I got the wrong date.)

The Seventeenth Century might release the Notes EP today. The Skinny says it is out today, but there's no mention of a release date or purchase details on the band's website, so I'll need to check this one out and edit here as applicable.

Panda Su's Sticks and Bricks EP isn't really new, but it just went up on eMusic today, giving you the perfect chance to check it out of you haven't picked up a CD yet.

Finally, at the risk of derailing Peenko's Friday Freebies this week, I'd like to draw your attention to the newly relaunched Too Many Fireworks record label, which is giving away a free sampler in return for signing up to their mailing list.

There's an absolute ton of gigs on this week too. The one I'm most looking forward to takes place on Sunday under the Celtic Connections banner, the Chemikal Underground 15th birthday bash.
As well as making me feel really old - a young Jim was at their 5th birthday gig - there's a briliant selection of bands playing. On the bill are Zoey Van Goey, Adrian Crowley, Lord Cut Glass, Emma Pollock, the first ever live show by ex-Aereogrammers Craig B and Iain Cook as The Unwinding Hours, a performance by Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells and The Phantom Band headlining. It should be a bit special. Moe info and tickets here.

Oh, and just a reminder there's a couple of days left to get your votes in for the Scotblogs Awards, voting for me would be brilliant.

Spaghetti Anywhere EP Review

One of the brilliant things about writing Aye Tunes is that every now and then I get sent something from nowhere, from a band I'm completely unaware of, that I completely fall in love with. This is one of those times.

Spaghetti Anywhere are Francis Cullen and Valerio Cerini, London based housemates. I think Valerio hails from Rome, while one listen to vocalist Francis betrays him away as a Scot. A longer listen shows that the Scottish influence is one that runs through the band. Rather than be seduced by whatever trendy haircuts and musical scene is currently the hip thing in London, Spaghetti Anywhere wouldn't be out of place on an old C86 compilation tape.

Calling to mind bands like The Pastels, Camera Obscura and Belle and Sebastian can be more of a blessing than a curse - you probably trip over half a dozen Belle and Sebastian copyists any time you walk down a street in Glasgow - but if you can pull it off it can sound delightful. Spaghetti Anywhere do more than just pull it off, they do it magnificently.

Reinforcing those Scottish 80s influences opening track Gregory's Girl not only lifts the title of John Gordon Sinclair's finest moment, but also a brief sample from the film. It's no exercise in nostalgia for the sake of it though, it - like the rest of the EP - is infectious, incredibly catching and as sweet and charming as a very sweet & charming thing. George Clooney perhaps. I've embedded Gregory's Girl below for the moment so you can have a wee listen for yourself.

Living in London plays into the band's songs too, most particularly on Love Again, where the casual references fit naturally into the lyrics, rather than feeling shoehorned in.

If you like your indie-pop get your ears round this, one of the best debuts I've heard in ages, there's not a bad song in the four. Being London based has kept Spaghetti Anywhere off my radar before now, but now they are on it I just might be in love with them. None of the EP tracks are on the band's MySpace so far, but don't let that stop you dropping by and listening to what they do have up.

All in the Spaghetti Anywhere EP is an unexpected delight, and well worth the 13 minutes of your time it'll take to listen to. Just don't blame me for all the additional time you lose on listening again, and again, and again...

The EP is released on February 22nd on Toy Soldiers Records. It'll be available as a digital download and 10" vinyl. You should be able to order it from either the band or label websites below.

Spaghetti Anywhere MySpace
Toy Soldiers Records MySpace

Blah Blah Blah

Between one thing and another I've not been posting as much as I'd like.
While I work on writing up something proper, here's a wee bit of filler.

Got myself down to The 13th Note last night for the Glasgow PodcART gig. The Seventeenth Century and French Wives were both on the bill, and both very good, as expected. I've gone from not having seen The Seventeenth Century in months to having seen them twice in a couple of weeks now. As if that's not enough, I'm off to see them again on Thursday when they play The Mill with the always excellent There Will Be Fireworks.

I didn't make it very far into the year before I broke my gig a week resolution, as last week was a failure. There were plenty gigs on too, I just never got to any of them. I'm pulling double duty this week and next though, so that evens up the missed week.

You wouldn't believe how much of a fight my computer puts up when I try to do, well, anything. I swear the thing has a vendetta against me. This has made listening to any music I've got recently quite a task, which goes some way to explaining the lack of reviews of late. Instead an inordinate amount of time has been spent getting shot to death by children on Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Live. My life is so exciting! I might end up taking a crowbar to to the thing, but I'll find a way to write up some reviews over the next week or so, because I've been sent some excellent things recently.

So, what about you, been to any good gigs recently, got anything fun lined up? Any bands out there that I might not have heard worth checking out?

While I'm here, Mitchell Museum have put out an odd wee promo video, which you can watch below.

Louise McVey & Cracks in the Concrete - EP Review

It's really about time to try catching up on reviews while there's not much new coming out, so here's one I've been trying to get round to for the best part of a month.

Considering that by now I put Louise McVey & Cracks in the Concrete in my Tips for 2010 it should come as very little surprise that I really enjoyed this EP, but before I'd heard it I'd been really looking forward to it, hoping and praying it wouldn't disappoint, that the one time I'd seen the band live hadn't just been a flash in the pan. In fact, so eager was I to get my hands on it that I signed up with Juno Download just because they had it earlier than anyone else.
Needless to say, my anticipation wasn't wasted, and my hopes not for nothing.

The four songs on the EP have a similar undercurrent of menace and impending doom, yet enough variety to keep things interesting and show there's more than one trick up the bands sleeve.

From the opening assault of Ode, all spikey guitars and piano, and a refrain that oddly puts me in mind of something from a DJ Shadow or UNKLE album more than anything, to the more gentle sounding Love Lost Tales, on to the unsettling ghost stories of Night, ending with the downbeat and most Twin Peaks of the selection Maud all four songs are driping with atmosphere, musical menace and storytelling lyrics.

Cracks in the Concrete perform a perfectly formed backdrop, while Louise McVey's ice cold vocals guide the listener through like a siren leading you on to the rocks. Excellent stuff, now to impatiently wait for a follow up album...

Fans of the likes of The Birthday Party and The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, Angelo Badalamenti, and just anyone with a taste for something a little different could do a whole lot worse than seek this release out.

Louise McVey & Cracks in the Concrete's selft titled EP is out now on Optimo Music, available as a download from all the usual places. A 10" vinyl release will follow in late January.

MySpace

Vote for Me!

The folks over at Scottish Roundup are running an award thing for blogs, the 2010 Scotblog Awards.

Anyway, I'm nominated, so if you feel like it, please do go and vote for me over here.
You can vote for more than one blog, so as well as voting for Aye Tunes go ahead and vote for our pals too, like Peenko, Last Year’s Girl and Have Fun at Dinner.

Cheers!

Ten Tips for 2010

I'm later doing this than I really intended. Shaking off the post festive season "can't be bothered" feeling is still taking it's toll, so I'd better just get on with it.

I'm splitting this into two halfs, The Ones You Know are bands that have been around for a bit, and ones I've covered a bit previously. The Ones You Might Not are, as the name suggests, ones that aren't quite so familiar, and I've generally not covered them much so far.
Ideally I'll expand on this a bit later, but for now here's the list and a wee bit of rambling.

The Ones You Know
Kid Canaveral - If you don't know Kid Canaveral by now then you are really missing out. Already with a string of great single under their belt, an album is nearing completion. Unless something goes horribly wrong their track record suggests that's an album I'm going to enjoy.
Mitchell Museum - I do carry a bit of bias towards Mitchell Museum, since they are managed by my cousin. That aside though, they are a cracking band. A couple of impressive singles last year will be followed by an album soon. Again, that's one I'm looking forward to quite a lot.
Trapped In Kansas - I've taken stick for liking Trapped In Kansas before, but will that stop me enjoying them and writing about them? Of course not. Whether you like them or not, I do. I there's plans for an EP and hopefully an album this year.
Julia and The Doogans - Great songs, gorgeous voice, cracking band. That's more than enough for me.
The Kays Lavelle - Another band with an album almost ready for release, another album I'm eagerly awaiting.

The Ones You Might Not
We're Only Afraid of NYC - Sometimes you get one of those happy accidents when you go to see one band and the support act you'd never heard of before really catches your attention too. I managed to see them a few times last year and am eagerly awaiting their upcoming EP.
Louise McVey and Cracks in the Concrete - Another happy accident, as I knew next to nothing about them before catching them play at a Glasgow Podcart Live Session, but I was very impressed that night. Their recently released debut EP bodes well for the future.
Make Sparks - There's already a significant buzz around Make Sparks on the strength of their recent Rewind EP (which I still need to review, and will soon) and regular live shows. More recording and heaps of live shows are scheduled for the start of this year, try and get along to a gig, I will be.
Macabre Scene - First time I saw this band live I liked them, and could see a load of potential in them. Next time I saw them was only a few weeks later, but they'd already improved a ton. If they can keep that up it shouldn't be long before that potential is lived up to.
Esperi - I've written a fair bit about esperi here over the last couple of months, live shows are consistently impressive, and so are the recordings. I believe work has started on an album, I really can't wait to hear it.

Honourable Mentions
There's far more than ten bands worth watching this year. In no particular order, and no doubt missing loads out, mentions have to go to Lava Experiments, Kochka, Yahweh, Campfires In Winter, Zoobizaretta, French Wives, The Seventeenth Century, Mickey 9s, The Whisky Works, The Darien Venture, Bronto Skylift, Little Yellow Ukuleles, and so many many more.

Frightened Rabbit Announce New Single

Frightened Rabbit precede their 3rd full length studio album, ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’ with a brand new single ‘Nothing Like You’ on February 22nd, backed with another new song, ‘Learned Your Name’.
Furiously upbeat, ‘Nothing Like You’ s acoustic bustle is reminescent of The Cure classic, ‘Inbetween Days’ and mines the most uptempo aspects of Scott Hutchison's songwriting. The new album follows on 1st March.

Frightened Rabbit’s steady ascent is set to rise incrementally with the release of the new album, appetite for which has been whetted by the anthemic ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ teaser single which gave the band their first Zane Lowe plays and made a unaminous critcal impression at NME, Q (Track Of The Day), News Of The World (SotW), Record Of The Day (Track Of The Week), CMU Daily (Track Of The Day).

More tellingly they registered strongly in the albums of the decade polls everywhere from the blogs to NME and The Skinny

‘Nothing Like You’ typifies a more fully realised Frightened Rabbit sound, and like ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ boasts a stunning string arrangment from labelmate, Hauschka. Speaking to nme.com about the new album, lead singer Scott Hutchison explained ‘We've broadened our horizons sonically and it feels like a natural move forward. Most importantly, it’s better than the last one. That's all I wanted, really."
Frightened Rabbit ended 2009 playing to huge crowds at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebration and 2010 will be a pivotal year for the band, as Scott acknowledges: “I’ve never been in a position of being aware of an audience of any size that was waiting for our music until now. You have to be aware of it or else it’s totally selfish. Pressure sounds like a negative thing but it’s quite positive actually. It feels earned. Everything we have achieved has been earned. It would be disappointing if we didn’t become more popular because that’s got to be the goal for every new record. If it comes I think we are actually ready for it now.’

The March headline dates run as follows, tickets available via www.crowdsurge.com/frightenedrabbit

04/03/10 York Duchess
05/03/10 Manchester Club Academy
06/03/10 Aldershot West End Centre
08/03/10 Bristol Thekla
09/03/10 Oxford Academy 2
10/03/10 London Koko
12/03/10 Birmingham Academy 2
13/03/10 Sheffield Leadmill 2
14/03/10 Norwich Arts Centre

I don't think I'm going out on too much of a limb to presume that there's Scottish dates to follow those.
You can have a wee listen to Nothing Like You (formerly known to some of you as Steve) now over at the Frightened Rabbit MySpace.
The single will be available as a 7" and download from Fat Cat.