Single Review: Cancel the Astronauts - Seven Vices

Edinburgh(ish) five piece indie popsters Cancel the Astronauts are back with a new single. Since they hold the dubious honour of having had me review all their releases to date, all two of them, I better keep up my perfect record and talk a bit about Seven Vices.

Seven Vices is a bright and breezy wee pop number. The intro is a wee bit Frightened Rabbit, before the pace picks up and some gorgeous harmonies kick in. The song does what Cancel the Astronauts often display a fine knack for, just when it seems like it is sailing along enjoyably, but inoffensively, you find that it has sneakily wormed into your brain, and you are still humming the hooks long after it finished. That seems like a bit of a backhanded compliment, but it isn't meant to be. I like it when a song digs its claws in like that, and it is exactly what I want from a pop song. Not everything has to be complicated or a challenge.

Something Approaching starts off with a lovely downbeat bit, just vocals and a sparse piano refrain, before picking up pace gradually. Sweet, charming, catchy and done in three in a half minutes, once again doing wonderfully on the hypothetical "what Jim wants from a pop song" checklist.

Rounding off the single is Playing Hard to Get - no word on whether this is related to the stalker theme of first release I Am the President of Your Fanclub or not - which doesn't break from the trend of the first two tracks, but since I enjoyed those that's just fine with me. Some surprisingly funky bass in there, along with another one of those stuck-in-my-head hooks, and an ending that feels a bit like a hidden track on an album. Splendid.

The single is probably the best I've heard Cancel the Astronauts on record. I'm clearly already a fan, and enjoyed the previous two EPs, but it all just sounds a little crisper and sharper here, which is rather pleasing. When I reviewed Funny For a Girl in June 2010 I said "hopefully we don't have another year for more new material", 14 and a bit months on I'll just keep my mouth shut this time eh?

Seven Vices is released on September 12th, pre-order it now from Bandcamp.
Cancel the Astronauts are off on a UK tour to launch the single. They play The Captain's Rest in Glasgow Friday (the 9th), with support from Over the Wall and Poor Things, tickets are available here, Troon Concert Hall on Saturday, then on Sunday, the 11th, they play in Edinburgh at The Electric Circus, with support from My Tiny Robots and The Bad Books. More dates follow, see their website for details.

Cancel the Astronauts: Website - Bandcamp - Facebook

Album Review: Comply or Die - Depths

We love a bit of noise here at Aye Tunes, so today we are taking the short hop across the Irish Sea for some. Comply or Die are a three piece hailing from Belfast, Depths is their second album, and I'm going to try and get through this without an obvious horse joke.

Depths kicks off with an all out assault in the form of Official Secrets. Loud, frantic and frenetic, it sets out the stall nicely for the rest of the album. The first few tracks on the album keep up the million miles a minute approach, ferocious riffs bludgeoning the ears and rushing the adrenaline, and that's just how I like it.

After the short sharp shock of the opening three songs comes the sprawling 11 minute long Vermin, which breaks away from the formula set down so far. More doom than thrash in pacing, Vermin uses every bit of its lengthy running time wisely, retaining the skull pounding riffs, but giving them more time to build and breathe. It takes a turn to the dark and sinister, before building up to an aggressive conclusion, and sounds excellent.

After that I'm Sick (of This) and Motives resume the frantic pace, with buzzsaw riffs, filthy bass and pounding drums back to the fore.Viscera rounds off this little trilogy with enough power to rattle teeth, and comes out as my favourite of the albums 6 shorter tracks.

Final track DMT follows the lead of Vermin, not least in run time, clocking in at an epic 12 minutes. At times it is almost dreamy, somewhat apt given the psychedelic it presumably takes its name from, then bursting into a wave of distortion followed by even more juddering riffs, DMT has more hooks than a cloakroom, and brings the album to a glorious close.

All in all Depths is a pretty mighty album. One that will leave you gasping for breath, ears ringing, and in my case grinning in approval. The short tracks that make up the bulk of the album provide good, loud, entertainment, while Vermin and DMT that show off the full range of Comply or Die and make me want to come back for more.

All hurdles cleared and across the finish line, and Depths comes out as a winner. I knew I couldn't resist a horse reference.

Depth is out now, available from Bandcamp, Amazon and iTunes.

Shanghaied by Comply Or Die

Comply or Die: Website - Facebook - Bandcamp

Gig News: Tourty Fruity - United Fruit UK/France Tour

Will the tortured puns never end? No, probably not.

Following a busy summer of gigging, including performances at T in the Park and King Tut's, we could forgive United Fruit for putting their feet up for a bit. Instead they've decided to head off on tour again for most of September. Admirable work ethic there gents.

If you haven't heard United Fruit before then, well, why not? Debut album Fault Lines has been on pretty heavy rotation around here since it was released at the end of May, and has a pretty good chance of popping up in my Best Of lists at the end of the year. You can see what I had to say about the album here, but the short version is this - it is very loud, and very, very good.
Having caught the band live a couple of times this year I can assure you that they aren't just good on record, but excellent on stage too. I love a band that makes a Hell of a lot of noise, and United Fruit do it in some style. If they are playing at a town near you then I highly recommend getting along to see them.

United Fruit September Tour Dates:


Sep 2 - Duke’s Corner, Dundee (with Pensioner)
Sep 3 - The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh (with Pensioner and As In Bear)
Sep 4 - Cafe Drummonds, Aberdeen (with Pensioner)
Sep 5 - Vines Bar, Derby
Sep 6 - Undertone, Cardiff
Sep 8 - Mothers Ruin, Bristol
Sep 9 - Hanover Community Centre, Brighton
Sep 10 - Bar Up, Halifax
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Sep 12 - Le Rigoletto, Paris
Sep 13 - Le Zinc, Poitiers
Sep 14 - Les Joulins, Tours
Sep 15 - La Barbarella, La Rochelle
Sep 16 - El Surf, Meschers
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Sep 18 - TBC, London
Sep 19 - Stereo, York
Sep 21 - Adelphi, Hull
Sep 23 - Captain's Rest, Glasgow (Homecoming show, with Lady North and Holy Mountain) Buy Tickets



United Fruit: Facebook - Bandcamp - Twitter

Bizarre - 30th August

The latest showbiz, celebrity and entertainment news and gossip from Aye Tunes!

Well, if The Sun are going to nick my name I'm stealing theirs for News & Bits this week...

New Releases are getting covered in their own individual posts these days, as far as I can. Out this week are the third album from Butcher Boy, and a new single from Skies Fell. The second album by John Knox Sex Club, Raise Ravens, is also available to buy here, and I'll have more on that album later this week.

Hubby, Wells and Moffat:

RM Hubbert has announced he will be supporting Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat on their upcoming UK and European tour. Sadly Hubby won't be playing at the Paisley gig, which is the one I'm hoping to go to, but if you are planning to go to any of the other dates on the tour make sure you get along early to catch our favourite post-rock flamenco solo artist. All the dates are here.

Coming Soon:

A quick Twitter discussion with RM Hubbert and some others recently ended up in my listening to all my De Rosa albums instead of sleeping, which wasn't a bad trade and leads nicely on to the next bit of news. Former De Rosa frontman Martin John Henry releases his first solo album in October. You can pre-order The Other Half of Everything right now at Bandcamp and get a download of three tracks right away. Or, you could order it from ASDA (don't though, buy it from Gargleblast if you are going to pre-order). There's an album launch gig at Stereo in Glasgow on October 8th, with support from The Seventeenth Century.

Aye Tunes Elsewhere:

Other than having my name nicked by a tabloid rag which we all hate anyway, I've popped up this week over at The Pop Cop. I was asked to write a bit for The Pop Cop's student guide, which meant trying to find nice things to say about Paisley. Add in that I haven't been a student in 13 years and my advice might be a bit dodgy, but you can find it here anyway.

Low, Low Prices:

Everyone loves free stuff, and happily bands always seem to oblige us by giving us songs for nothing, something which is of course covered in depth every Friday at Peenko. Here's a few that I've dug up myself recently.

My Tiny Robots are giving away Rock Bossa Nova Four Beat Black’ as a precursor to their release of a series of three singles on digital and as very special limited physical starting in October. You can download the song here, or below.

My Tiny Robots - Rock Bossa Nova Fourbeat Black by My Tiny Robots

The Darian Venture have a giveaway of their song Animals here.

Aminals by the darien venture

Flying Man Shark officially release their debut album on October 1st, but if you swing by their Bandcamp page you can download it for free now.

Monsters On Movie Posters have made their debut album Our Four Left Feet, released earlier this year, available for free too, grab it here.

New Release: Skies Fell - The Kite

Skies Fell, fresh from headlining King Tut's on Saturday, release their new single The Kite this week.

Good wee single this. The Kite is a big, sweeping, epic sounding number, with a great we sing along ending. B-side Stolen Lung is a darker, more low key affair, which actually floats my boat a bit more than the A-side does. Both good songs though, and worth a purchase.

The Kite is available to download from iTunes.

New Release: Butcher Boy - Helping Hands

Following up on the single from last week, Butcher Boy release their third album this week.

I've not had a listen to the album yet, so I can't tell you much about how good it is. Instead I'll pass you over to JC of The Vinyl Villain, who got me to pick up the first two Butcher Boy albums through his comments on them previously, who has written about Helping Hands here.
JC is calling it his album of the year, and has an interview with Butcher Boy's Alison Eales, and a competition to win the Imperial single on 7", over here.

Helping Hands is available to download from iTunes. CD available from HMV.

This Week's Gigs: 29th August - 4th September

Looking for something to do this week? Here's the highlights.

Wednesday:

Redwings, Without Aeroplanes, Thula Bora. Bloc. Free entry.

Three good bands and the most agreeable price of free.

Cults, Kill the Waves. Nice N Sleazy.

Thursday:

Alan Bissett: Pack Men book launch. Waterstones, Sauchiehall St.

Launch event for Alan Bissett's latest novel, Pack Men. I've not read it yet, but on the quality of Alan's previous work I'm pretty sure it'll be good. The launch event kicks off at 6:30pm, entry is free.

Friday:

The Moth & The Mirror, Amber Wilson, Blood Blood. Captain's Rest.

Launch gig for the fab new single from the Moth & The Mirror, which you can download for free here.

The Whisky Works, The Darien Venture, Atlas: Empire. Stereo. (Tickets)

A good thing/bad thing gig. The good thing is that the gig launches The Whisky Works' new EP. The bad thing is that it will also be the band's final gig. Yay/boo as appropriate.

Pronto Mama. The Common Rooms.

Pronto Mama will be supporting themselves, with a half hour acoustic slot followed by their regular set.

Saturday:

Music is the Music Language. SWG3.

Also taking place on Sunday. For full details and running order see Facebook.

Sunday:

French Wives, Poor Things, Shields. 13th Note.

French Wives emerge blinking from the studio for an intimate gig, before going back into it again to finish off work on their debut album. New songs should be on show, and the support is pretty decent. Here's your gig of the week then. Might want to get along early though, The 13th Note is wee and it is first come first served. On second thoughts, can you all turn up late please? I want to make sure I can get in.

AVP4 - Done & Dusted

Excuse me a moment while I get a wee bit self indulgent.

Saturday past was of course the night of Aye Tunes Vs Peenko: The Revenge, and I've about just gotten myself back to normal afterwards. People that put gigs on for a living probably have no such issues, but when I put one on the days leading up to it are... interesting. A mixture of excitement, nervous energy and terror all combine to do weird things to me. So far all the gigs I've been involved in have been worth the three days without eating or sleeping properly before, and happily Saturday was exception.

A huge thank you to everyone that came along to Stereo on Saturday night, as confident that we were that we had a gig people would want to come to I've been to plenty nights with a great line-up and a barely double figures crowd, so it was at first a relief, then massively pleasing to be kept busy on the door dealing with the people coming in. We thank you for choosing to spend your time and money on us, as cheesy as it sounds it is very touching that those that came did.

The reason people came has very little to do with me or Peenko though, they came for the bands, and if everyone enjoyed them half as much as I did they will have gone home happy.

Mondegreen, Miaoux Miaoux and Adam Stafford - who roped in some friends for the occasion - were all brilliant, and we can't thank them enough for trusting us enough to agree to do the gig.

Anyway, enough of the gushing, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone, and I'm almost done, just a couple left...

Thanks Claire for taking photos. That's one of her photos up at the top there, and more can be seen on Flickr, just be warned that there's some of me in there. You can find all Claire's photos over at her Catthouse website.

Thanks Murray for the review over on his blog, and for the assistance manning the merch desk.

Big love to PAWS, drinks were had in your honour and thanks to Stereo for having us.

Last but not least, ok, last and least, thanks to Lloyd for sharing the stress, sharing the beer, and always knowing when to slag me off to distract me when it looks like my head is going to explode.

Now for the first time since April I find myself with no gig in the pipeline. A wee break is in order I think, but I doubt it'll be too long before I start shouting at you to come to something again.

New Release: Aidan Moffat - Stolen Songs

New music from Aidan Moffat is always something to be happy about. Ironic, given his reputation for miserable music I suppose.

Stolen Songs is a mini-album of cover versions, Aidan's take on songs made famous by Cyndi Lauper, Katie Melua, INXS, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, Doris Duke, Marvin Gaye and The Kids From Fame. It is, of course, pretty bloody ace.

Stolen Songs is available from Bandcamp as either a download or limited edition CD. While stocks last the CD also comes with a copy of the Angry Buddhists album. I have that already, amongst other things it has Aidan doing more covers of Uptown Girl and the Love Theme From Star Wars on it, so that's worth a punt.

Galleries - New Songs, Free Download and a Situation Vacant

Galleries have been beavering away of late, working on their debut album. Some new songs have been popping up on Soundcloud, so swing over there to have a wee listen. Oddly enough Galleries have also somehow managed to make their way into my dreams. I woke up on Monday morning having dreamt that the band had announced they were splitting up, and had to go and check they hadn't.

The band have also made one of those new songs, Young Wounds, available as a free download. That's good of them, isn't it?

You can grab the download from their website here, and preview it below.

Young Wounds by Galleries

Galleries also are on the hunt for a new guitar player. Hopefully unrelated to my splitting up dream Paul has left the band, and they are after a replacement. You can find out more about what they are looking for and how to put yourself forward here.

New Release: Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island released a new single earlier this month, but I wasn't properly paying attention at the time. You Look Like I Need A Drink is out now, and is a good wee teaser for the Prince Edward Island album, This Day Is a Good Enough Day, which is released next week.

I say next week, the labum is already available to purchase on Amazon.

The band are London based, but listen for more than a few seconds and you'll quickly catch on that they aren't all from there, with singer Darren's Fife accent at the forefront of things.

The single is available from iTunes.

Prince Edward Island- You look like I need a drink by Prince Edward Island

New Release: Butcher Boy - Imperial

Butcher Boy emerge from a quiet period with the release of a new single, Imperial, ahead of the release of their third album next week.

Both songs are pretty much what you'd expect from the band, a bit twee, jangly and poppy. Also, good stuff, as you'd expect from Butcher Boy by now.

Imperial is available on 7" from Damaged Goods, or to download from iTunes, with both formats including non album track Juicy Fruit.

New Release: MakethisRelate - Sugar Glass

Glasgow threesome MakethisRelate have a new single out. Titled Sugar Glass, it is a blast of alternative rock that mostly makes me feel quite old and cranky, but I'm not the target market, and I can appreciate the craft.

The single is backed with an acoustic version, and a Bovine remix.

Buy Sugar Glass from iTunes.

New Release: Vladimir

Dundee four piece Vladimir release their debut EP this week.

Dark, sinister and noisy, the 5 track EP is pretty good stuff.

The band were also Peenko's latest Fresh Meat victims this week, so you can learn a bit more about them over there.

The EP is available from Bandcamp and bigcartel.

Vladimir - I Fight Fire by VLADIMIR

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

As I mentioned last week, I'm messing about with the gig guide a bit. Instead of trying to cram in every gig I can find that is happening I'll be including the ones that look good, interesting, or otherwise stand out somehow. Hopefully that will make this less of a pain in the arse to write.

Tuesday:

Foxface. Mono. Free Entry.

Every couple of months I tend to ask "whatever happened to Foxface?", but no one ever answers me. Imagine my surprise when I heard about this gig then, and my further delight at finding a bunch of new songs on Soundcloud. No prizes for guessing where I'll be on Tuesday then.

Thursday:

John Knox Sex Club. Love Music Instore.

Ahead of their album launch on Sunday, John Knox Sex Club have a wee afternoon instore at Love Music.

Roscoe Vacant and the Gantin' Screichs, Bunny and the Misshapes, Dave Hughes and the Renegade Folk Punk Band, Billy Liar. Nice & Sleazy.

Launch gig for the new Roscoe Vacant album, Reckurdt. Ought to be a good gig this.

Finn Lemarinel, Debutant, Panda Su, Brown Bear & the Bandits. Pivo Pivo.

Also likely to be very good.

Friday:

Hei Ensemble, Adam Stafford. Nice & Sleazy.

Hey Enemy, plus a load of their friends, including members of Take A Worm For a Walk Week, United Fruit, Holy Mountain, Idlewild, Desalvo, Song Of Return, Otherpeople, Y'All Is Fantasy Island, Lapsus Linguae, Fighting Red Adair, Hush, Blue Sky Archives, Titus Gein, Household, Bronto Skylift, The Phantom Band, Citizens and more, all crammed on to one stage. Sounds like carnage, and damn near unmissable. Support comes from Aye Tunes hero Adam Stafford too.

Brown Brogues, Ghost Outfit, Rollor. The Electric Circus.

Meanwhile, through in Edinburgh, the Toad at the Circus gigs continue.

Pin Up Nights: Oh You Dancer, Machines in Heaven, Evol. The Flying Duck.

Last Friday of the month means it is Pin Up Nights, and as usual there's a nice pick of live acts.

Saturday:

Retreat! Pilrig St Pauls, Edinburgh. (Tickets)

Day one of the two day live music extravaganza. Burger, No Burger, FOUND, Fur Hood, Rob St John, ballboy, Gummy Stumps, Lady North and Broken Records make up the Saturday bill. More details on Facebook.

Skies Fell, PartWindPartWolf, Omnivore. King Tut's. (Tickets)

New Life Club: Mickey 9s, Magic Daddy, How Garbo Died. Bloc, 11pm-3am.

That line-up just might be worth me suffering the night bus back to Paisley.

Sunday:

Retreat! Pilrig St Pauls, Edinburgh. (Tickets)

Day two has eagleowl, Skeleton Bob, The Scottish Enlightenment, Two Wings, The Pineapple Chunks, Jesus H. Foxx, The Leg and Meursault. Again, more info on Facebook.

LightGuides, Pareto, We're Only Afraid of NYC. King Tut's. (Tickets)

John Knox Sex Club, North American War, Williwah. Stereo.

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko 4 - Tomorrow!

Right then, one last push.

First of all, the sad part. If you follow Aye Tunes on Facebook or Twitter you'll know already, but unfortunately PAWS have had to pull out from the gig for personal reasons. We'll miss PAWS, but their withdrawal is unavoidable. We've got hugs saved for them, and send them all our love.

We do still have a grand night planned, with Mondegreem, Miaoux Miaoux and Adam Stafford.

To hear a bit from all involved visit my preview from last week.

The gig takes place tomorrow night, Saturday August 20th, at Stereo in Glasgow. Please note that as there is a club on after the gig we have an early start, doors should open around 7, with the first band not long after. Tickets are £6, and you can pay on the door.

Just because the gig will be finishing by half 10 doesn't mean you have to plan an early night though. Join us for a drink afterwards upstairs in Stereo, where all involved will be taking turns in spinning some records. Adam promises some Rockabilly tunes, while me and Peenko will no doubt be ruining any kind of good reputation we might have with our selections.

Bedtime For Mitchell Museum

Right now I'm supposed to be writing the last minute plea for you all to attend tomorrow's Aye Tunes Vs Peenko gig. Before sitting down to write it I had a quick look at Twitter, and then at my email, and learned something that has made me really rather sad. It looks like we are losing, at least for a while, one of my favourite bands, Mitchell Museum. Copy/paste time first...

Hello all out there. We’ve come to you with kind of sad news. Of late we have had a few unfortunate instances as a band and, mostly to matters beyond our control and understanding, it seems we may have to take a break for a while.

We’ve have recently lost members of both our on and off stage team, all are just as important in making this thing happen, and we’re not sure how we will do this without them and we’re unsure if we want to.

So we’re taking an extended leave for a while to work out if we still want to make music and how to do that again. We want to say thanks to everyone who came to see us over the years, listened to our music or even just pretended they liked us to sound cool (it didn’t work by the way). You made this all great fun for us and we hope you had some fun along the way too.

Hopefully you’ll always remember us fondly like a kindly old aunt with a beard and a learning disability that was never diagnosed.

Here is the last song that we'd been working on. It seems strangely appropriate...

Bring out the claws, the claws are out. by mitchell museum

Mitchell Museum were a pretty important band to me, way back in the early days of the blog they were one of the first "wee" bands I took myself along to see, and the kindness and encouragement that they showed was really quite lovely. Sure, I was their manager's cousin, but they were still an incredibly friendly and welcoming bunch of guys.

Since then I've seen them a ton of times, and they've never been anything less than wonderful, both on stage and as people.

Myself and Peenko were honoured to have them play at the first of our gigs last year, something which still ranks as one of the best nights of my life, so it is with a great deal of sadness that we have to wave them goodbye, and wish the very best of luck to whatever Cammy, Dougie, Kris and Raindeer do next.

Somewhat worryingly this means that from the three Aye Tunes Vs Peenko gigs that have taken place one band from each bill has called it a day this year. First Come On Gang! broke up at the start of this year, then Little Yellow Ukuleles followed, and now Mitchell Museum. I hope Mondegreen don't get any funny ideas...

Of course, given something else that happened this week, the reason that PAWS are unable to play AVP4 a band breaking up is relatively meaningless, but we'll still be sad to see Mitchell Museum go.

News & Bits - August 15th

Having forgotten to write the news post at all last week you might be expecting a bumper edition this week. You fools, you should know by now to always lower your expectations at Aye Tunes.

New Releases:

A Band Called Quinn - QBCA Remix For East Africa. Available from Bandcamp, proceeds go to the East Africa Crisis Appeal.

Adam Stafford - Build a Harbour Immediately. Download available from Bandcamp.

Amber Wilson - Raise the Alarm/An Affirmation. Available from iTunes.

Cherri Fosphate - Passion. Available from Bandcamp.

The Corleones - I Can't Help It/Bland Conversations. Available from Bandcamp and iTunes.

Discopolis - Lofty Ambitions. Rather fine single, available from iTunes.

Lightguides - Samba Samba Samba. Didn't think this was due out till the end of the month, but you can buy it now from iTunes. If you prefer physical things a CD can be pre-ordered from Alcopop! Records.

Roscoe Vacant and the Gantin' Screichs - Reckurdt. One that got missed with the lack of news last week, this is a cracking album. You can buy it from Bandcamp and iTunes.

Seven Astronauts, or Cancelled Vices:

Yeah, sometimes the subheadings just don't work... Cancel the Astronauts have a new single, Seven Vices, out on September 12th. You can pre-order the CD and get the download now from Bandcamp. They have a couple of launch gigs for the single too, in Glasgow at the Captain's Rest on September 9th with support from Over the Wall and Poor Things, then another on the 11th at The Electric Circus in Edinburgh with support from My Tiny Robots and The Bad Books.

Slow Moving Son(s):

The Son(s) have a new video! You can see the animated video for Dogs, Boys and Men here. The Son(s) have made a few songs available to download for free to go along with the video. Along with Dogs, Boys and Men they've tarted up a couple of songs from the sessions for their debut album which came out earlier this year. You can get the download here.

What's On:

No gig guide again this week (see below for more) so here's a few of the highlights of the week.

Tuesday: Shambles Miller joins the Slow Club at Bloc from 9pm, with free entry and cakes. How Garbo Died play Stereo with Dol Eoin and Pornsec. I have no idea who the last two are...

Wednesday: Milk is good for your bones, but it is also a darn fine gig night in Glasgow. This week at Flat 0/1 Milk have Boycotts, Crayons and Every Genius Delivers. Through in Edinburgh Song, by Toad kick of their Toad at the Circus gig series with The Pineapple Chunks, Dolfinz and Mutch & Thomas, at The Electric Circus.

Friday: Time waits for no man, or Toad apparently, as the second Toad at the Circus gig rolls around quickly, with Amber Wilson, Randolph's Leap and Matthew Healy, again at The Electric Circus.

Saturday is, of course, Aye Tunes Vs Peenko: The Revenge at Stereo. Much more details here. Normally when I have a gig on I pretend nothing else is happening, but through in Edinburgh on Saturday there's some people I like doing stuff, so they can have a wee plug. Night Noise Team play at Henry's Cellar Bar with Miasma and Dancing Mice, and at Pilrig St Pauls there's the Oxjam Wee Twee gig, with The Last Battle, Sebastian Dangerfield and Letters.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes:

From next week I'm rejigging the only regular features I have, this and the gig guide. The news is fun to write, the gig guide isn't, but I suspect both suffer from tl;dr most weeks. The gig guide will stop even attempting to cover everything that is happening in Edinburgh in Glasgow, since most weeks it misses stuff no one tells me about, even after pouring through venue listings and Facebook events. Instead it'll be switching to the gigs on that week that I think look decent, rather than everything I know is on. The news will - assuming there is enough news to make it worthwhile - be getting split up into more than one post, though I'll most likely do a round up at the end of the week too. All of this is likely very uninteresting for you, so I'll stop going on about it now.

Not Long Now: AVP4

Just over a week to go until me and Peenko reunite by popular* demand for the forth Aye Tunes Vs Peenko gig, and we're are entering the pre-gig period where I start to panic and convince myself no one is coming. It would be nice if some people came then. Keep reading to see (and hear) why you should chose Stereo on August 20th instead of something else.

*not popular

After AVP3 last November we decided to call time on the gigs for various reasons, the gigs had gone pretty well and had been a whole lot of fun, but it felt like a good time to step away and do our own things for a while.

Back in April, fuelled by a few beers, fitting since it was after beers we came up with AVP in the first place, Peenko and I started talking about putting together something together again. We suggested a couple of bands to each other, and were in full agreement with the other's choices, coming up with a four band bill that passed the first test - would we pay to go to this gig?

From there bands were contacted, we fluttered our eyelashes, stroked their hair, and pretended we know what we are doing. Imagine our surprise and delight when everyone said yes, they'd do it. Then the tricky part was trying to keep it under our hat for a while. We teased a bit.

Months later the event is almost upon us, here's the details.

Mondegreen are a band I'd been following for ages. Some might call it stalking, but the Judge didn't. I picked them to represent Aye Tunes at Pin Up Nights Bloggers Delight back in May where along with being great, were about the only people to hang around in the kitchen at The Flying Duck for my DJ exploits. We love Mondegreen. Have a wee listen and hear why.

Say It Dont Spray It by mondegreen

Making Cookies by mondegreen

Download Mondergreen's Headless EP from Bandcamp for free.

Miaoux Miaoux is another artist we think is brilliant, and a bit different from what you might expect from Peenko and I. Blending electronics with guitar, layers of bleepy things and angelic vocals Miaoux Miaoux also isn't just great on record, he is fantastic live too, a million miles away from one man nodding over the top of a laptop. Dancing shoes are optional but advised, big stupid grins are almost certain to be provided.

Hrvatski by miaouxmiaoux

Hey Sound! by miaouxmiaoux

Miaoux Miaoux records and downloads are available from Bandcamp.

PAWS first came to my attention with the single Violent Vicky Violet, released back in mid 2010 on Wiseblood Industries, a song which is two and a half minutes of fuzzy indie pop brilliance. Since then they've gone from strength to strength, picking up a legion of admirers and a reputation for energetic, loud and bags of fun gigs. Most recently PAWS were one of the bands chosen to play the TBreak stage at T in the Park, and just released a split 7" with Lady North through the excellent Gerry Loves Records. I can tell you from experience that the single launch in Glasgow was frenetic - stage invasions, crowd surfing, and an attempt at a human pyramid all accompanied the glorious noise coming from the band. A brilliant band, and even better live band, and yet another that never fail to leave me grinning like a turtle.

Paws - Lekker by gerrylovesrecords

Winners Don't Bleed by wehavepaws

Buy PAWS goods from their shop, and get the PAWS/Lady North split 7" from Gerry Loves Records.

Adam Stafford is a many of many talents. Not happy with being a brilliant musician, he is also an award winning filmmaker and founder of the Wiseblood Industries record label. Formerly the singer and songwriter of Y'all Is Fantasy Island, we'd be much sadder about the demise of that band if it wasn't for the quality of Adam's solo material. Adam very kindly agreed when we asked him to not just play our gig, but to use it as the launch night for his new album Build a Harbour Immediately. Conflict of interest means I can't actually review that album without being accused of bias, but it is a quite extraordinary release, one I won't be surprised popping up on Best Of lists at the end of the year. The album moves away a bit from Adam's previous solo accapella albums, featuring contibutions from Emily Scott, Zoey Van Goey's Kim Moore, and former Yifi members Robbie Lesiuk and Steven Tosh. It goes without saying that if me and Lloyd didn't love the album, we wouldn't be wanting to launch it. When it first surfaced last year the song Shot Down You Summer Wannabes stopped me dead in my tracks, and became one of my favourite tracks of the year. Summer Wannabes reappears on the new album in a different form, but remains jaw dropping. Inventive and seemingly endlessly creative, Adam is also a captivating live performer, who always has a trick or two up his sleeve.

Shot-down You Summer Wannabes by Adam Stafford

Fire & Theft by Adam Stafford

Pre-order Build a Harbour Immediately on very limited edition cassette (with download code) from Insularis Records. The album is also available to download from Bandcamp now. Find a whole lot more from Adam Stafford and Y'all Is Fantasy Island at Wiseblood Industries.

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko 4: The Revenge takes place on Saturday August 20th at Stereo on Renfield Lane, Glasgow. Advance tickets are avilable here, or just shoot me an email if you want one. You can let us know you are coming and keep up to date on Facebook. Please come along, you'll help stop me getting a stress ulcer.

News & Bits - August 1st

Pinch punch first of the month. A fair amount of news this week, and a chance for me to reference one of my favourite songs, which goes some way to making up for the fact that I'm supposed to be in the pub right now instead of writing this.

New Releases:

Jonnie Common - Master of None. This snuck a little early digitally, but is officially released today. You can buy it from iTunes. A limited vinyl version is available here.
Lady North/PAWS - Split 7". On the off chance you've missed all my mentions of this so far, the latest Gerry Loves Records split single is out today, buy from Bandcamp. There are launch gigs in Edinburgh tonight (Monday) and in Glasgow on Wednesday too.

The Mouse That Ate The Cat - Falling Down. Brand spanking new single from TMTATC, available from Bandcamp.

The Pineapple Chunks - A Dog Walked In. New album from The Pinapple Chunks, available now from Bandcamp for a very low price.

Note: I make up the new releases section by adding in what I know is out and going over new additions to eMusic on a Monday. eMusic hasn't yet updated with new releases today, so I'll come back and fill in any blanks once it does.

Ah Yes, Ain't That Fresh:

Fresh Air have released their second Inside Track compilation. 18 tracks of top notch Scottish music, including Loch Awe, Black International, Supermarionation, Plastic Animals, Trapped Mice, The Spook School and loads more, all for the minimum price of £2, with proceeds going to Waverly Care. You can download the album here.

Staff:

Adam Stafford releases a new single on Friday. Fire & Theft will be available as a free download from the Wiseblood Industries site from August 5th. You can hear a b-side, Miaoux Miaoux's remix of Shot Down You Summer Wannabes below. Adam launches his new album at Stereo on August 20th, with Miaoux Miaoux, PAWS and Mondegreen all supporting. You knew that already though, right? Tickets for that gig can be bought here, or from myself, Peenko or any of the bands.

Summer Wannabes (Miaoux Miaoux remix) by Adam Stafford

Branching Out:

Olive Grove Records have announced that the latest members of their family are The Moth and the Mirror. Debut album his World, Honestly is set to be released through Olive Grove on October 10th, and you can grab a free download of a new track, Lights in the Sky, from here.

Still Afraid:

I got a lovely wee surprise in my post the other day, a promo CD containing two new songs by We're Only Afraid of NYC. The band had been very quiet, but popped up again at the end of May with a new video and song, Walls. Walls will be released as a free download on August 22nd, but you can get your hands on it right now with a purchase of a ticket to see the band support LightGuides at King Tut's on August 28th here. As someone that has been following the band for quite a while now I'm delighted to see them back, and even happier that the new material is another step forward for them.

Stuff:

Due to it having a mid week release, I missed out the new Scrap Brain single last week. You can download Take It for free here, and see the video here.

Make Sparks have been awfully quiet of late, but have sprung back into action in the last few weeks. A new single will be released in September, with the band going on tour to accompany it. In the meantime they've kindly packaged up a bunch of their old songs as a cheap download from Bandcamp, and are also giving away the b-side to the new single for free.

Martin John Henry releases his debut solo album in October, but you can get a wee taster right now. First Light is available to download for free from Bandcamp, and has me eager to hear the rest of the album.

Former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra is playing at Glasgow's O2 ABC next week. Support comes from Desalvo and Bronto Skylift. Half price tickets are available here, just enter desalvo as the promo code.

The Red Show release a new EP on Friday. You can pre-order it at Bandcamp, and find all their previous EPs there too.

French Wives have announced an intimate Glasgow show to celebrate finishing the recording of their debut album. The gig will take place in The 13th Note on September 4th. You are advised to turn up early. French Wives are also playing at the first Tidal Wave of Indifference gig in Edinburgh on September 24th, with Star Wheel Press, the douglas firs and Lost Telegrams, tickets available here.

Bellow Bellow have stuck up a couple of demos for free download.

The Whisky Works are joining the club of bands who are releasing something and at the same time splitting up. They will release new EP In Fiction and play their final gig at Stereo on September 2nd, tickets are available here.