Another Gratuitous Plug for People I Like (and for myself, who I don't like)

Still shouldn't be allowed to use Photoshop

Shameless self promotion time again!
There's less than a week to go until the next Aye Tunes Presents gig, so here's another attempt to lure you along to The Captains Rest on Wednesday.

Opening up proceedings, and a late addition to an already hastily assembled evening, will be Kevin P. Gilday. Better known to some of you lovely readers as one half of How Garbo Died, Kev will be attempting to channel the spirits of the likes of John Cooper Clarke and Ivor Cutler for a quick spoken word set shortly after doors open, so come along early.

An Unremarkable Shade of Beige by Kevin P. Gilday

I occasionally have a wee rant at the overabundance of acoustic guitar playing singer/songwriters around at the moment, so it is only fair that I try and balance out my grumbles by highlighting the ones that I like, which Shambles Miller certainly is. Proclaimed as the writer of the best acoustic song about robots (for Robots, funnily enough) Shambles does the punky, folky, politically minded songs that many do, but with a wit and charm that so many of the others lack. Also a keen sandwich enthusiast and film watcher, Shambles recently Photoshopped me into a scene from The Social Network, which I must admit skipped him up a few slots on the "people I want to do a gig for me" list, but it was his songs that got him on the list ion the first place.

I didn't mess up Facebook, don't shout at me.

The Spook School will be carrying on the fine tradition of me seemingly always having an Edinburgh band on my bill, just so I can get to listen to them. With just two songs out there to listen to that might seem unwise, but the regular scouting reports I've been getting from their Edinburgh gigs, particularly from Edinburgh Man, made me really eager to see The Spook School through in Glasgow. Unwilling to wait for their appearance at Glasgow Popfest in December, I opted make them come through myself, which brings us to this, their first Glasgow gig. Taking their name from one of the groups part of The Glasgow School artistic movement, The Spook School have a hefty C86 element to their music, with sweet harmonies, quirky lyrics and jangly guitars all over History, while Hallam has seagulls and ukulele - always a winning combination - planting them firmly up my street. How I'll watch them downstairs while tending the door upstairs in The Captains Rest is another matter, but I'll find a way.



The Sea Kings take elements of rockabilly, disco, americana and folk and fling them all in a blender, coming out with something in the psychobilly ballpark, with their own twist on it. In their own words they "accommodate disco dancers and chin strokers alike", and they even have a song about Bible John for the more morbid. Seems like the Sea Kings should have all bases covered on Wednesday then, eh?

Tooth And Nail by The Sea Kings

So, that's Aye Tunes Presents: The Sea Kings, The Spook School, Shambles Miller and Kevin P. Gilday then.
The gig takes place at The Captains Rest in Glasgow on Wednesday September 28th, kicking off around 8pm, and costing £5 to get in. You can tell us you are coming on Facebook if you are into that kind of thing.

As with all Aye Tunes gigs I wouldn't be putting this on if I didn't like the bands, and all your money will be going to them, not me.

A Gratuitous Plug for People I Like

With the gig guide not really running any more it means I get to ignore some stuff I'm not that interested in, but it also means occasionally I don't properly mention stuff that will be ace. Like this, so it can have a post all of its own instead.

One of my blog buddies The Tidal Wave of Indifference is branching out into putting on gigs, with the first one coming up this weekend. Blogs putting on gigs eh? What a ridiculous idea, that will clearly never catch on.

The first The Tidal Wave of Indifference Presents (a catchy name, might steal that format...) gig takes place on Saturday at The Wee Red Bar in Edinburgh, and looks pretty darn fine. So fine in fact that I've been looking up Google Maps to try and work out if I can make a rare trip through to Edinburgh and get to the gig without getting lost somewhere on The Cowgate.

Headlining affairs are Star Wheel Press, who released their debut album The Life Cycle of a Dying Bird earlier this year to acclaim from the likes of Ian Rankin and Lauren Laverne. If Lauren Laverne likes you then you are generally ok in my book.



French Wives are, of course, on of my favourite bands around. They'll be making a wee escape from the recording studio where they are currently working on their debut album - or possibly playing Grand Theft Auto according to their Twitter feed - for this gig. Hopefully there will be no drunks needing removed from the venue during their set, unlike when I saw them at the 13th Note a few weeks ago.



the douglas firs also released their first album earlier this years, and Happy As a Windless Flag quickly nailed down a position of one of my favourite things I've listened to this year. They are a bit different live than on record, but the best parts of both carry over into each other, and they are well worth catching.



Lost Telegrams are fairly new to my ears. In an odd coincidence I was sitting listening to them on Bandcamp when the announcement came from Stu that they'd be playing at his gig. Their recently released debut EP is pretty swell, and I'm hoping I manage to find my way to the Wee Red to get a good look and listen to them in the flesh.



Tickets are available from Avalanche Records and online for £6, and doors open at 7pm on Saturday, so get down early.

Something New From The Twilight Sad

The Twilight Sad's third album, No One Can Ever Know, won't be out until early next year, but you can grab the closing track from the album, Kill it in the Morning, for free right now.
Kill it in the Morning hints at a bit of change in sound for The Twilight Sad, while still retain the atmosphere and hint of menace I tend to associate with them. James Graham's vocals are as spine tingling as always, and work better than I might have expected to over the more industrial sound.

Have a listen:
Kill It In The Morning by The Twilight Sad

Download in exchange for your email address:

The album No One Can Ever Know will be released in February 2012 by Fat Cat Records.
The Twilight Sad - Website

New Release: Lovers Turn To Monsters - Pandas, Hearts, Blankets & Birds

Back in June Lovers Turn To Monsters, or Kyle as he's also known, released his first "proper" album in the shape of Beyond Glasgow Howls. It was really very good, but at the time I forgot to say much about it. It seems only right then that I give a proper mention to the new Lovers Turn To Monsters release then.

Recorded between June and September, Pandas, Hearts, Blankets & Birds is yet more proof that you never have to wait a long time for a new Lovers Turn To Monsters song. Unlike many Kyle seems to produce countless songs a year, and none of them are ever something that feels like it was dashed out in an afternoon to pass some time. The ten songs on Pandas, Hearts, Blankets & Birds are very much in the lo-fi indie pop ilk, and much less polished than a "proper" recording would be, but the home made feel to them holds a certain charm for me. Besides, it isn't as if they sound like they've been recorded in a shed with a cheap tape recorded, the sound is lo-fi, but still sounds fab.

10 tracks of indie pop loveliness then, available to download for free. What more do you want? Crudely recorded samples from The Simpsons you say? Well you're in luck, the album has them too!



Download Pandas, Hearts, Blankets & Birds for free from Bandcamp, or pay next to nothing for a home made CD. While you are there poke around the Bandcamp page a bit more and you'll see what I mean about Lovers Turn To Monsters being prolific, there's a ton of music up there, lots of it for free.

Lovers Turn To Monsters: Facebook - Bandcamp

Presenting, Again

Yes, I should not be allowed near Photoshop

Remember back in June I did that birthday gig, and afterwards said that next time I decided to do a short notice gig someone should punch me in the mouth? Well, start forming an orderly queue, because I'm doing it again.

Two weeks tonight (eek!) sees the next Aye Tunes Presents gig take place, at The Captains Rest in Glasgow.
Joining us for the occasion are:
The Sea Kings - Fresh from supporting The Cave Singers at King Tut's, The Sea Kings will be adding some psychobilly stomp to the evening.
Tooth And Nail by The Sea Kings

The Spook School - Edinburgh based C86 indie-pop-rock 'n' roll quartet, playing their first Glasgow gig ever ever.
History by The Spook School

Shambles Miller - Acoustic punky-folk man with guitar, and a rather fetching beard to boot.
Rapture by Shambles Miller

Between now and the gig I'll be back to tell you a bit more about everyone playing, but for now enjoy their songs, and cancel all your plans for September 28th and come to The Captains Rest instead, where you can exchange £5 for an evening of Aye Tunes endorsed live entertainment. I'd rather you didn't punch me in the mouth, but if it means you'll come to the gig I'm willing to get hit.

Want to make things official by clicking an "attending" button? Well, you can do that over on Facebook.

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
------
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
------
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.