33.3 - Broken Kneecap, Velvet Spine

Oh hello almost missed deadline! I never expected to see you so soon. You're going to be visiting a lot in the next month, aren't you? Yes you are, you little scamp.

So yeah, football, a bust hard drive, and other things have all contrived to distract me today, meaning that very little thought has been put into this post, I've fired up blogger just after 11, and picked the very first song that came into my head.

I'm tempted to hide the name so that you don't know what it is until you hit play, but that's too much work, I'd need to go and change the file name and stuff, and I'm already scrambling around here.

Babble ends. Song begins.

Whale - Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe

It was this or Cherry Pie, decide for yourself which would have been better. Tomorrow I'll try and be earlier.

33.2 - Yeah, and You Thought You Knew Me?

I don't know either.

Woo, Friday night, party time! What'll it be tonight then, an indie disco floorfiller? Some fat, throbbing beats for us to get down to? A bit of The Boss to sing along to while getting pickled?

No?

Something which features domestic violence?

Yes.

Whipping Boy. We Don't Need Nobody Else is another song I turn to when alcohol influenced and in control of music, but usually not till the point where everyone is a bit too drunk, pals have passed out, pissed me off, or both, and I'm starting to hate everything a wee bit. This usually helps, although if anyone is ever still awake to hear me singing along they do look very surprised at one particular part of the song.
It's tough, but beautiful.

Also contains a nice Bono diss.

Two versions, have fun, don't hit anyone.
Whipping Boy - We Don't Need Nobody Else
Whipping Boy - We Don't Need Nobody Else (Acoustic)

Whipping Boy are Irish, released a couple of cracking albums in the 90s - pick of the bunch being Heartworm, where this song comes from - then vanished. They tried to resurface a few times, but never seemed to quite manage until a year or two ago. At the tail end of last year the band, with a mostly new line up built around singer Fearghal McKee released a new single, No One Takes Prisoners Anymore. It was ok.

Stag & Dagger: Who, Where, When?

Going to Stag & Dagger in Glasgow on Saturday? You'll probably want to know who is playing, at what venue, and when then, won't you?

Here's a handy dandy guide, with my favourites highlighted in red and everything.

SATURDAY 19 MAY

O2 ABC1 
19:15-20:00 White Denim
20:15-21:00 The Phantom Band
21:15-22:15 Django Django 

O2 ABC2 
18:00-18:30 Passenger
18:45-19:15 A Plastic Rose
19:30-20:00 To Kill A King
20:30-21:00 The New Piccadillys
21:30-22:15 Vigo Thieves

CCA 5 
19:00-19:30 Chasing Owls
20:00-20:30 Will Hanson
21:00-21:45 Eleanor Friedberger
22:15-22:45 Washington Irving
23:00-23:45 Willy Mason

THE ART SCHOOL 
18:30-19:00 White Arrows
19:30-20:00 Post War Years
20:30-21:15 Still Corners
21:45-22:15 Jonquil
22:55-23:45 Niki & The Dove Conquering Animal Sound

STEREO
19:30-20:00 Miaoux Miaoux
20:30-21:00 Random Impulse
21:30-22:15 Bear in Heaven
22:45-23:30 EMA
00:00-00:45 Forest Swords

NICE 'N' SLEAZY 
19:00-19:30 Adam Stafford
20:00-20:30 Bwani Junction
21:00-21:45 Milk Music
22:15-23:00 Holy Mountain

THE CAPTAINS 
14:00-14:30 Michael Anguish
15:00-15:30 Hot Panda
16:00-16:30 Honeyblood
17:00-17:30 The Heartbreaks
18:00-18:30 Die Hard
19:00-19:30 Ryan Keen
20:00-20:30 Holy Esque
21:00-21:45 Still Flyin'
22:15-22:45 Hidden Masters
23:15-00:00 Discopolis

33.1 - Start Big

Things I didn't think of when coming up with this stupid idea #1: title images are going to be a pain. Let's start with beer, almost everything starts with beer.

Entry number one then, what should it be? Something like The Delgados, Arab Strap or Teenage Fanclub would be an easy way to go, but all a bit too obvious. We'll get to them, but not tonight.
No, I think we'll skip straight to one of the big guns to kick things off. If you only know me from reading the blog this one might be a bit of a surprise to you. If you've ever witnessed me in a situation where I'm in control of music, particularly if beer has been consumed (I knew I'd manage to work beer in, go me!) whether by being one of my pals, having seen one of the rare occasions where someone has foolishly gotten me to DJ (I still miss you Pin Up Nights) or just had the misfortune to be one of my Twitter followers, you'll know some songs are just inevitable. This one? This one isn't just inevitable, it's pretty much essential.

Skee-Lo - I Wish

A while back I got into a bit of a hip hop discussion, with the other party being somewhat surprised that I even liked hip hop, and upon being asked to name my favourite hip hop song without thinking about it, I Wish was my first, instant answer. I love a lot of hip hop, and there's a ton of more influential, more important, "better" songs than this one, but ask me to pick a favourite and I will go with Skee-Lo every single time.
Genuinely, without a hint of me trying to be smart or "ironic", one of my favourite songs OF ALL TIME.

Ain't that fresh?

33 - A Month Long Exercise In Annoying You

Have you seen this cake? Please contact your local police.

In 33 days I turn 33. Do a birthday gig again? Goodness no, the one last year almost gave me a nervous breakdown, and cost me most of my birthday money. Yet another Aye Tunes gig in July though. Shh, I never said that.
To "celebrate" I'm going to try and tackle my status as Scotland's Laziest Music Blogger, and annoy you with rambling, by doing a post every day.

That's right, every single day for the next 33 days - unless it goes horribly off the rails - you'll have a chance to look in and think "wow, after 4 years of this he still can't write about music?". No great theme here, no songs that changed my life, because that would be lies.

It'll just be songs I like, bands I like, that sort of thing. Lots of stuff I love but wouldn't normally be able to fit on the blog without a crowbar. Sort of like This Is My Jam, but with more words, and pictures of Transformers. It'll probably be terrible. Expect Britpop.

33.1 coming later tonight, when my computer stops acting like a petulant child and does what I tell it. Try to feign interest.

SAY Award Shortlist Announced

I keep forgetting to mention the Scottish Album of the Year Award. The shortlist of the ten albums that'll be in the running for the prize has been announced today, so now is as good time as any to finally get around to it, I suppose.

Firstly, a wee bit of background:
The SAY Award was concieved by The Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA). Earlier in the year 100 music and arts industry figures from across Scotland were invited to submit their nominations for the Scottish Album of the Year, before a longlist featuring the 20 highest scoring records was announced on April 12th. That longlist has now been reduced to a shortlist of 10 following the deliberations of a specially invited judging panel. The shortlist features one record voted for by the general public who have been able to listen to all 20 longlisted albums online and via a specially designed SAY Award app. With the voting ‘window’ only open for 24 hours on May 14th, more than 9,000 votes were submitted online and via the app.

The winning album will be announced at a prestigious ceremony in Glasgow Film City on Tuesday 19th June, earning a grand prize of £20,000. The nine runners-up will each receive £1,000. All ten shortlisted finalists will receive an artwork from the winner of a unique SAY Award art commission which celebrates the enduring links that exist between music and art. The commission, valued at £20,000, will be offered to graduates from Scotland’s four principal art schools with the winning graduate (selected, in this pilot year, from Glasgow’s School of Art) producing ten artworks to be donated as prizes for the shortlisted finalists.

The shortlist:

• Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - Everything’s Getting Older
• Conquering Animal Sound - Kammerspiel
• Happy Particles - Under Sleeping Waves
• King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
• Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
• Mungo’s Hi Fi - Forward Ever
• Remember Remember - The Quickening
• Rustie - Glass Swords
• Tommy Smith - Karma
• Twin Atlantic - Free (public vote winners)

Confirmation there that I'm out of touch with what the public likes. Personally I'd be delighted to see any of Bill & Aidan, Conquering Animal Sound, Happy Particles, Mogwai and Remember Remember win the prize, although my public vote went to CAS, because imagine all the fun toys they could buy with twenty grand. Slight disappointment from me that FOUND didn't make the shortlist is balanced a bit by relief that Bwani Junction didn't either.

TBreak 2012 Line-up Announced

Well, it's that time of year again, as the bands chosen by a select band of elite soldiers to play the TBreak stage at this year's T in the Park have been announced.

The bands are:

Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward and Fisher
Bacchanal Party
Beerjacket
Blank Canvas
Brown Bear & The Bandits
Capitals
Chris Devotion and the Expectations
Crusades
Davey Horne
Nevada Base
Open Swimmer
Randolph’s Leap
Roman Nose
TeKlo
The Machine Room
The Mirror Trap

I fed these details into an insane super computer, which rated them as shite (0) alright (5) and ace (10). Here are the results.

You can't argue with science.

And here's a bridge burning.

Another Aye Tunes Gig: Exit_International, Wrongnote & Supermarionation

Been a while since I put on a gig, having all but decided to hang up my occasionally used promoter hat at the end of last year. When the chance came up to put together this one though, I couldn't resist.

And so Aye Tunes Presents is back, a wee bit different this time. We've spread our wings a bit and are bringing a band all the way from Wales for this one, along with one from Glasgow, and one from the scariest place of all, Edinburgh.

Exit_International first came on to my radar when they supported Ginger of The Wildhearts in Glasgow at the tail end of last year. That gig took place on the same night as the now infamous "Hurricane Bawbag", and it is fair to say the wind wasn't the only thing blowing people away. The Cardiff three piece shun six strings, instead coming armed with a pair of bass guitars, to thrilling results. Loud, frantic, sleazy and sexy, with more hooks than a tackle box, Exit_International call to mind hints of Girls Against Boys, Pulled Apart By Horses, Pixies and Motorhead, while always being their own distinct kind of rock beast.
Tours with Ginger Wildheart, Hawk Eyes, Monster Magnet, Blitz Kids, and dates with Kids In Glasshouses, Pulled Apart By Horses, Gay For Johnny Depp and The Bronx, and debut album Black Junk saw Exit_International pick up plaudits in the British rock press, with Rock Sound, Tis is Fake DIY and Kerrang! all praising the band.
A 7” single of Chainsaw Song/Glory Horn – both re-recorded with the latter track featuring vocals and guitar by Ginger - is set for release in May, with the band off on tour to promote the single. I'm delighted to be bringing them to Glasgow for the sole Scottish date of their tour, and hope you'll join me in giving them a warm welcome. Possibly a sweat drenched welcome too, but certainly a warm one.



Wrongnote have been tickling my ears for a while now. Debut album Rech Out, Disconnect took a couple of listens for me to really get into it, but once it took hold, it wouldn't let go without a fight. Jagged and off kilter, Wrongnote are probably lazily best described as falling somewhere into post-punk, but there's a lot more to them than that with elements of progressive, punk, post punk, power-pop, jazz, metal and everything in between mixed in. There's something slightly, and endearingly, demented about the Glasgow four piece. Recent single Heart of a Rat is available to download for a price of your choosing from Bandcamp, and sounds ace to me. Also, at the risk of me getting a beating for mention it, Wrongnote must be one of very few Scottish bands to have a member receive the compliment of "I don't mean to be crass, but I'd bang him like a drum" on the IMDB message boards. There's many more threads about the looks of said band member, I'll say no more about that.



Supermarionation are a band I've tried to lure to Glasgow for one of my gigs a few times, but have always been dashed by schedules. Happily this time around the stars aligned, and Supermarionation will be bringing their own brand of punky, poppy rock to the night. No lusty fans on IMDB, but the band do claim to be made up of mad scientists and warlords, so maybe the creepy female fanbase is in a different location.



The gig takes place on Thursday May 3rd at Stairway in Glasgow. If you've not been there before it's on Union Street, right next to Central Station.
Advance tickets are available from Brown Paper Tickets here.
If you are into that kind of thing you can claim you'll come on Facebook here, but I'd much rather you actually came along than just clicked that button.

Buy Expensive Plastic, You Capitalist Pigs! (Or: Record Store Day 2012)

Hey, look, I'm alive! Surprised? I am.

Record Store Day is coming up this Saturday, so I figured I should make some attempt at doing something here, even though I am Scotland's laziest music blogger. Me and RSD don't really get on that much, in part because I don't buy much vinyl, and in part because I call shops shops, not stores. For a more enthusiastic bit about record shops hop over to our pals at Echoes and Dust.
One good thing about Record Store Day is that you can always catch some bands playing for free though. Yes, I'm missing the point, no, I don't really care.

In Edinburgh there's in store activity at Avalanche Records, and VoxBox Music.

Avalanche have:
Withered Hand (2pm)
Gordon McIntyre (Ballboy) (3pm)
Ryan Hannigan (Star Wheel Press) masterclass on how to make album covers
Afterwards the shop is teaming up with The Tidal Wave of Indifference for a gig at The Electric Circus from 7pm, with Star Wheel Press, The Last Battle and Emily Scott.

Over at VoxBox, the line-up is:
PAWS (3pm)
Neil Pennycook (Meursault) (4pm)

Through in Glasgow everyone is getting in on the act.

Insularis Records are bringing their pop up shop to Nice & Sleazy from 12pm, with the following live acts promised:
Call To Mind (2pm)
Any Color Black (3pm)
Withered Hand (5pm)
They'll also be having a raffle for some rarities, including one of the last remaining FOUND chocolate 7" singles, and hint that there'll be some surprises too.
Following their takeover upstairs, Insularis are also hosting a gig downstairs at Sleazy's, with Holy Mountain, What the Blood Revealed, and Adam Stafford, which frankly sounds brilliant.
Here's some Holy Mountain.

Love Music have:

Dolalay (1.30pm)
Cathode Ray (2pm)
White Heath (2.30pm)
French Wives (3pm)
Woodenbox (4pm)
The Murderburgers (4.30pm)
Admiral Fallow (5pm)

Down at Monorail you can catch this lot:

Organs Of Love (4pm)
Gerard Love DJ set (4.30pm)
Human Don’t Be Angry (5.30pm)
Stuart Braithwaite DJ set (6pm)
Snowgoose (7pm)
The Brogues DJ set (7.30pm),
Linden, Edwyn Collins & Dead Flamingos (8.30pm)

As always there's a whole pile of Record Store Day exclusive product available on the day too. Get along to the shops early for those limited edition over priced records from the major labels kids! Or buy them from scalpers on eBay later.
I've dug through the full list to find some RSD exclusive from Scots (and Garbage), so I can carry on pretending to be a Scottish music blog for a little longer.

• Admiral Fallow: Boots Met My Face LP
• Belle & Sebastian: Crash 7"
• Django Django: Storm 7"
• Edwyn Collins: Tape Box 6x7" box set
• Emeli Sande: Heaven 12"
• Garbage: Blood For Poppies/Battle In Me 7"
• Human Don't Be Angry: Human Don't Be Angry LP
• Mull Historical Society: Must You Get Low 7"
• The Wicker Man OST: Willow's Song/Gently Johnny 7"
• Snowgoose: Harmony Springs LP
• Twin Atlantic: Make a Beast of Myself 7" picture disc
• Various Artists (inc. Simple Minds): The Breakfast Club OST LP
• Finally, and not on the list, Cath Records have a pair of releases, a tape from Bronto Skylift and Sean Armstrong cassette/DVD. No idea where they'll be on sale right enough, but if you keep an eye on their Facebook I'm sure they'll tell us.

Track By Track: Black International - In Debt

One of my favourite albums of last year, Black International's In Debt, has been picked up by Spiralchords Records, and was re-released on Friday. For those that missed it first time round here's a repeat from last year, when Black International's Stewart Allen shared some behinds the scenes secrets about the songs on the album.

Thanks to the magic of Bandcamp embeds you can listen to the whole album as you read. If you like it, buy it. Now, read on to learn about the mysteries of the Brazilian Trilogy, and other things.

A Million Mouths

This song probably had the longest gestation period of anything we’ve written, as I was terrified that I couldn't think of any lyrics for it, and always felt ill whenever I contemplated doing them. I think we started rehearsing this in 2008 before temporarily abandoning it, but the general chord sequence may have been kicking around for two or three years before that. We finished it a week before recording started. Nail biting, etc.

Destruct-o-

I can’t remember much about the process of writing this one, but the basic structure was finished before I took it to the rest of the band, which is quite unusual for us these days. Believe it or not, we had a sort of Sly & the Family Stone thing in mind when we were arranging it, which I think shows in the rhythm section. Imagine there are trumpets and grunts on it and you’ll see what I mean.

Dread (Excerpt)

The ‘excerpt’ in the title refers to the introduction, which was originally a complete song but wasn't very good, so we binned most of it and bolted it onto another song. The first of what I’ll call the Brazilian Trilogy, as it was written on a little Spanish classical guitar I got from a charity shop while I sat around trying to copy Jorge Ben.

The lyric idea owes a little bit to McCarthy’s Charles Windsor, but doesn’t have quite the same level of joyous nose thumbing. I’d say it was supposed to be ‘darkly comic’, if I were a bit more of a twat.

Word Virus

Imagine my disappointment upon finding out that the title was subconsciously pinched from a William Burroughs book. I thought I’d struck gold, but alas, he’d beaten me to it. Still, at least it was Burroughs and not Enid fucking Blyton.

This one was written extremely quickly in rehearsal, and I finished off the lyrics at work the next day when I was supposed to be doing some dull task or other. If my former boss is reading (doubtful), I’m sure he’ll be pleased.

Know You Exist

Originally this had the somewhat childish working title of ‘Sonic Urethra’ when I first started it, as it sounded a bit like… actually, do I even have to explain that? It doesn't sound like Sonic Youth anymore. Musically it was very much a collaborative effort, if it’d been left up to me it would have been a shapeless twenty-minute drone. Luckily Craig has a good ear for structuring stuff.

I can’t say for sure, but the “Here’s your hair shirt, son” line was probably cribbed from the title of a Birthday Party song, called (strangely enough) The Hair Shirt. I was in a bit of an odd place when I wrote these lyrics, but it’s ALL FUCKING FINE NOW OK?

Interval

Does what it says in the title. We just fancied having a bit of breathing space and dividing the album in two, so did this one evening near the end of mixing. I could give a proper in-depth description of how it was made, but nobody wants to read that shit.

The City Is Dead

This song dates back to around 2007 along with Monument and You Can Trust Me, so I can’t really remember much about its inception. It’s supposed to be a rockabilly type thing, but has been put through our patented ‘bombastic washing machine’ and the colours have run a little bit.

Lyrically it’s a bit of a jumble, but I suppose it’s about dropping out of repetitive cycles of living and doing something fun instead. We’re deep, man, what can I say?

Monument

Again, it was written a while ago and my memory is hazy… I remember doing some of the lyrics in a bar on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh one Saturday afternoon. Spot the deliberate mistake, metallurgy fans.

Idle Worship

The second of the Brazilian Trilogy, I’d have thought it was quite obvious in this instance. Close your eyes, visualise it slowed down, samba rhythm, acoustic guitar, singing in Portuguese… You could almost be mugging tourists in São Paolo!

Feed Me Rhetoric

Brazilian #3 (sounds like a humiliating waxing routine). I’m doing my best Jim Morrison croon on this one. Should I buy a pair of leather trousers, hmm? Call myself ‘The Crocodile Baron’ or something? Anyway, Lovely Latin drumming from Craig I must proclaim, and it seems to be a firm live favourite with audiences, so we hardly ever play it.

And yes, I know how ‘rhetoric’ should be pronounced, but it doesn’t fit in that way. So fuck off.

You Can Trust Me

This started out as a little folky number but when we began working on it properly we focussed it through a Birthday Party-esque prism and noised it up a bit. Are you still reading this? If I were you I’d have gone home ages ago. You really are a glutton for punishment.

Black International: Website - Facebook -  Bandcamp

Loch Lomond - White Dresses EP

Loch Lomond have a Scottish sounding name, but come from Portland which is over there in that America. Their Scottish connections go further than the name though, it was a couple of releases on Song, by Toad that I first heard the band. Chemikal Underground released Loch Lomond's latest album over here last year, and now we have this EP, White Dresses, making up their first brand new material for Chemikal.

The songs on offer here share a gentle fragility, and a sense of melancholy. There's lush, rich instrumentation, but with a restraint that gives everything room to breathe. Allied with Ritchie Young's show stopping voice, constantly oozing emotion, this is just plain really good music. Rather than throw a bunch of adjectives at you as I try and fail to describe the EP any further, I'll just leave it at that.

Loch Lomond - Kicking With Your Feet

Loch Lomond make a rare full band visit to Scotland at the end of this week for two dates.
Friday March 9th - Glasgow, Captains Rest - TICKETS
Saturday March 10th - Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete's - TICKETS

White Dresses is out now, available from shops, straight from Chemikal Underground, Amazon and iTunes.

COMPETITION: Win Tickets for Carnivores/The Darien Venture/Cuddly Shark/No Island

Next Monday - March 5th -  ours fierce rivals friends at The Daily Dose are putting on a gig at Stereo.

Proceeds from the gig go to charity Action For Children. Tickets are available here

Playing at the gig are:

Carnivores.


The Darien Venture


Cuddly Shark


No Island


Hate charity? Really cheap? Well, we've got a pair of tickets to give away, so you could try that instead.
To enter simply email the answer to the following question to competition@ayetunes.org.uk, along with your name.
Question: What makes up a large part of a carnivores diet?
A. Glass
B. Meat
C. The Moon

Entries close at 6pm on Friday March 2nd, winner will be informed by email.
I won't keep your name and email address for nefarious purposes, sell it to spammers, try to steal your identity, or break into your house when you are at the gig on Monday. Honest.

Pin Up Nights - Ladies Night

This Friday is the last one of the month, and you know what that means, it's Pin Up Nights time! I won't be able to say that for much longer, as there are a mere two Pin Ups events to go, Ladies Night this week, then the final Pin Ups Night in March, then it's all over. I don't generally do clubs - hey, I'm old - but my outings to Pin Ups are always good ones with many fond memories, albeit quite hazy ones, so I'll miss it when it's gone.

Things might be coming to an end, but the Pin Ups crew seem pretty determined to go out with a bang. Ladies Night promises all the usual treats, including the standard good song selections of the Pin Ups DJs, who are joined this month by guest DJs Wild Beast,

Playing live this month are Kid Canaveral - who if you haven't noticed how much I love by now you probably never will, The Plimptons - whose upcoming new album has a bunch of wrestling references, pitching it firmly up my street, and Fanny Pelmet and the Bastard Suits - who I, err, know nothing about, but I like their name.

Kid Canaveral - You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night


The Plimptons - Be Expected


Additional treats include not one, not two, but three burlesque acts. Vendetta Vain, Tom DeLish and Babette Corvette will be strutting their stuff sometime around midnight. Which gives me an excuse for this video...


As always everything takes place at the Flying Duck, tickets are available here for six quid. Buying in advance saves you money, as the price rises to £8 if you pay on the door, so go ahead and buy now.

I'll give you more details about Pin Up Nights - Game Over closer to the time, but until then I should probably draw your attention to one thing. The team want Jarvis Cocker to DJ at the final night, but have so far had no luck. Naturally then, they've started a petition to Get Cocker. You can find out more details over on Facebook, and sign the petition here.

Six Things For Saturday

I'm a rubbish blogger, clearly. Rather than spend another weekend not writing proper blog posts and leaving things silent, here's a random selection of free music to briefly entertain you at the weekend.

Randolph's Leap:
Randolph's Leap launch their new album, Randolph's Leap and the Curse of the Haunted Headphones with a gig at the Captains Rest tonight. Contrary to the poster above I'm told that doors are at half seven, with the first band on at eight, so get along early. The album will be available on cassette at the gig, though there are very limited quantities available, before being put up on Bandcamp later. As a wee taster you can download Dying In My Sleep from the album here.


Julian The Apostate:
The man behind Julian The Apostate used to be in a band I liked, but now he's going solo instead. There's a couple of EPs and some demo recordings available for free from Bandcamp, and I'm promised there'll be more going up regularly, so keep an eye out.


Human Don't Be Angry:
The man behind Human Don't Be Angry used to be in a band I liked, but now he's going solo instead. Oh, wait... Anyway, yes, Human Don't Be Angry is the latest project from Malcolm Middleton. The album will be released on April 23rd - I've had a sneaky advance listen, it is, not very surprisingly, a bit good - but ahead of that there's a free download available of H.D.B.A. Theme. The first Human Don't Be Angry gig with a new full band takes place at The Arches a week today, as part of the Margins festival. There's not many tickets left, so you'll have to hurry if you want to go but don't have one yet.

Night Noise Team:
I rather enjoyed the album, Slow Release, that Night Noise Team put out last year. It was a mixture of dark, broody, poppy and electro, sometimes all at once. There's a free track, The Gift, available here, and more freebies from other Permwhale bands here. Slow Release is available to listen to and buy here.


Fay Wrays:
Ditching Scotland, off we go to Fresno, California, for something new from the Fay Wrays. Their album Strange Confessor popped up at random in my inbox last year, and ended up one of my favourite albums of the year (you can get that album for free here), so I was rather happy when they sent me through a new song at the start of the week. Cars is really rather good, and you can have it for free here.


Magnetic Island:
Continuing the rather random hopping around the globe today, let's stop off in Brooklyn, New York, for a little something from Magnetic Island. Their new self titled album is really, really good, and I urge you to have a listen to that here, and buy it if you like it. There's a host of free stuff from Magnetic Island on Bandcamp too, so go ahead and fill yer boots, but the freebie I'm featuring here popped up just the other day. It's a cover of a song by the Au Pairs, who I must confess to being completely unaware of, so I can't compare the cover with the original. The Magnetic Island version of Headache For Michelle is ace though, so go download it.


Finally a reminder that I recorded a podcast with Insularis Records, you can find more about that, and have a listen, here.

Me, Talking Rubbish

Oops, gone a bit longer between pots than I'd meant to. There's also an ominous looking submission pile that needs attention. While I attempt to do something about that, how would you like to hear some songs interspersed with me talking nonsense?

Last week I got together with my pal Allan to record a wee podcast for Insularis Records, the results of which you can hear below.

Insularis Podcast : January 2012 with Jim from AyeTunes! by Insularis Records on Mixcloud

We played ten songs, and I mainly ignored both Scottish music and new music for it, because I'm awkward like that. If you've always wanted to hear what I sound like when talking about things quite randomly, now you can.

Since recording I've done fact checking, and can add two pieces of into to things, 1 - Spiritualized have a new album imminent, which will presumably make up some of their set on their upcoming tour. 2. Kate Radley married Richard Ashcroft of The Verve.

Go buy some records from Insularis.

Shambles Sells Out, or Free Shambles Miller!

Given that I had him along to play at my last Aye Tunes gig in 2011 you shouldn't really need to be told that I rather like Shambles Miller. If you haven't heard the man himself yet to find out why I like him you won't get many better chances than this.

You see, Shambles has now sold out of physical copies of both his EPs, Shambles Vs The Dragonwizard and Shambles Sails The Clockwork Sea. To celebrate the sell out status the kind Mr Miller is making both EPs available, for a limited time, to download for whatever you want to pay for them.

Both are available from Bandcamp, where you can have a listen and get yourself a digital copy for however much you fancy paying.





Shambles Miller: Website - Bandcamp - Facebook

This Week's Gigs: 23rd - 29th January

There's a few handsome looking gigs going on this week, including a selection of my so-called "ones to watch" in action, so time to dust off the weekly guide for a rare outing, albeit in brief form.

Wednesday:
Miaoux Mioux, White Heath, Miss The Occupier, The Miss's. Stairway.
Fresh -assuming he gets a chance to catch up on his sleep - from his Radio One session in the early hours of this morning, Miaoux Miaoux will be adding a bit of pep to the middle of the week with this gig at Stairway. Miss The Occupier and The Miss's are both ace too. Tickets are available straight from Miaoux Miaoux here.
Young Philadelphia, Birdhead, Rollor, Burning Mountain. Pivo Pivo.
I don't know a lot about two of the bands on show here, but can vouch for Birdhead and Rollor both being a bit good.
LAID Burns Night: Trapped In Kansas, Poor Things, Loki. Bloc.
Rounding out a busy Wednesday in Glasgow is the latest offering from LAID.

Thursday:
French Wives: Album Preview. Duke's Bar. (Tickets)
Hey look, it's another of those bands who you should watch and stuff. French Wives are busy both raising money to run away to America, and getting ready to release their debut album. This show covers both bases, as it'll have the first playback of the finished album, as well as an acoustic set from the band - which they've promised to practice for - and some DJing.
Vladimir, Sick Kids, All We Are, Featherman. Bloc.
United Fruit, PAWS, Vasquez. Electric Circus.
Don't worry Edinburgh, I haven't entirely forgotten about you. There's a pretty easy one word desription for this gig - ooft.

Friday:
RM Hubbert, Tattie Toes. Stereo. (Tickets)
More watchable people! RM Hubbert is launching his new album, Thirteen Lost and Found, at Stereo on Saturday. All the guest contributors to the record will be chipping in, and it ought to be quite special.
Pin Up Nights - Intergalactic! The Flying Duck.
Sadly there aren't many Pin Up Nights left, as my favourite club night in Glasgow prepares to go away *sniff*. Enjoy it while you still can then. This month's Pin Ups has Den Haan, Nevada Base and Fiction Faction playing live, the usual Pin Ups DJs, guest DJs Paul Downie and Ally McCrae - plus a mystery spaceman - and Edinburgh club night It's Funtime taking over the kitchen.

Dolfinz - Teenage Doom/Nosebleed

This has been out for ages, but it's good, so it's getting flagged up, even if I am dead late.


You might not have noticed, unless you paid attention to the amount of it that turned up in my end of year/start of year posts, but I've been wandering off into lo-fi scuzzy poppy rock. That's what Dolfinz make, and they do it rather well.

Both songs on this double A-side single are very rough around the edges, but a Hell of a lot of fun, and at around three and a half minutes each don't mess about. They make a lovely amount of noise for a two piece, and throw all sorts into their songs, there's a bit of surf, lots of pop, shedloads of distortion, and a good old handful of rock. Really raw, a bit messy, and really flipping exciting. The single is available from Tuff Wax Records on Bandcamp, you can have a listen below.



There's a load more songs available for free on Soundcloud too, so go have a listen. Much more interesting than whoever the latest cardigan wearing acoustic troubadour of the week happens to be.

Up next from Dolfinz is a cassette release, paying tribute to Mean Girls, on Cath Records, and they've also recently recorded a track for a split 12" for Song, by Toad Records. All of that sounds great to me, even though I regularly moan about buying tapes and vinyl. They are sickeningly young, but I won't hold that against them.

Dolfinz: Soundcloud - Facebook

Obligatory Ones To Watch In 2012 Blog Post

I really don't like these lists very much. It is pretty much impossible to say who will have a good year, who will plod along as usual, who will split up or vanish without a trace, or anything else. It's also hard to say what counts as having a good year. Playing to a wee tent at at festival? A "triumphant" sell out gig to about 150 people in Glasgow or Edinburgh? The whole exercise always seems a tad pointless to me, you'd be better off sticking some band names on the wall and throwing darts to select them. That may or may not be the same way that bands land those wee tent at festival gigs anyway.

So, with all my grumbling out of the way, here I go being a hypocrite and making a list of bands to keep an eye on anyway. To remove some of the guess work - and the temptation to randomly pick folk that I just happen to like - I'm msotly concentrating on bands who are confirmed, or at least likely, to have new material out this year. Less "Ones To Watch In 2012" then, more "Ones To Watch In the next couple of months when their LP comes out". Of course, since some of these bands aren't even Scottish that moany first paragraph makes even less sense, but I'm not going back to change it now.

First Timers:


PAWS
I could pretty much have just written a list with PAWS on it and no one else and been satisfied with my choices, really. One of the most entertaining live bands in Scotland, PAWS are heading into the studio at the end of January to do some work on their debut album. I already can barely wait to hear some results.
PAWS - Winners Don't Bleed (Toad Session)

Black Books
It took me forever to get round to featuring Black Books here, so now I'm determined to make up for lost time. My favourite Texans release their debut album on February 14th this year, and if it carries on quality wise from their first EP it should be a darn fine record.
Black Books - Out The Door

Sneakpeek
Staying in America, shifting over to California, Sneakpeak are a band that I heard some time around the middle of 2011, listened to loads, and promptly completely forgot to ever mention on here. Falling into the dreamy lo-fi grungey pop genre that I seem to have become a wee bit obsessed with, Sneakpeek have been teasing tracks off their first album over on Youtube of late, and it all sounds quite fab.
Sneakpeek - Walk All Over Me

Rumour Cubes
Post rock, more or less, done beautifully. Debut album The Narrow State is out at the end of February, and currently sitting high on my "most anticipated" list.
Rumour Cubes - Rain On Titan

French Wives
It feels a bit odd including French Wives here, I've been listening to them for so long they are practically part of the furniture. This year however ought to be a good one for them, with the release of their debut album, and a trip to Austin for SXSW already on the cards. Still no sign of them turning into Simple Minds either, which is a nice added bonus.
French Wives - Covered In Grace


Difficult Second Album:

RM Hubbert
Hubby hardly needs mentioned by me, but he's getting included anyway. There's often an album that comes along early in the year that lays a marker for everything else to follow, and with his second album Thirteen Lost & Found Hubby has staked that claim for this year. For Thirteen Lost & Found Hubby has roped in some friends - Aidan Moffat, Emma Pollock, Luke Sutherland and more - to lend a hand, and the album both picks up where First & Last left off, and wanders into interesting new areas. Thirteen Lost & Found is released by Chemikal Underground on January 30th.
RM Hubbert - Tipsy Tapsy

Miaoux Miaoux
It took a minute to remember that Miaoux Miaoux belonged down here, and not with the first timers, but his debut album Rainbow Bubbles came out aaaaages ago. Miaoux Miaoux is another one of the artists I've been following for ages - at one point almost literally, as I bumped into Julian on a near weekly basis, which I swear was an accident - and from what I heard at his preview gig at the tail end of last year his second album should be something quite special. Chemikal Underground have just snapped up Miaoux Miaoux, and  if we don't see that second album this year I will, I don't know, complain on the internet or something.
Miaoux Miaoux - Hrvatski

The Last Battle
Since debut album Heart of the Land, Soul of the Sea The Last Battle have rejigged their line-up and sound quite a fair bit. Last year's Springwell EP was a much noisier affair, and I'm keen to see what approach they'll take on their second album, which is currently being recorded.
The Last Battle - 365 Days

Oh go on then, let's have some folk that I just like.

Randoms:

Hector Bizerk
I've said before that I often struggle to get my head around Scottish hip-hop, but I don't have any trouble with Hector Bizerk. And MC and a drummer, they keep things pretty simple (my brain won't allow me to complete this sentence without saying "no rabbit in a hat tricks", so there, it's done, let me move on now brain), and do it very, very well. They've got two EPs under their belt already, both worth a listen.
Hector Bizerk - Man Up (Ally McCrae Session)

Pris
Shouty, bitchy, London girls that sound something like what would happen if Kenickie and Shampoo had children together.. By goodness I love them. Unashamedly pop, I keep using Pris to cheer myself up when my inbox gets too full over self indulgent over serious navel gazing nonsense. Long may they continue.
Pris - The Better You Look The More You See

Loch Awe
As I write this Loch Awe are locked up in Hamilton, recording at Chem19 studios. Their first EP (or is it a mini album? I can never tell) back in 2010 was pretty ace. Since the release of that the band have changed the way they sound a fair bit, meaning we can't get away with describing them as dead folky any more.
Loch Awe - I Will Drift into 10,000 Streams (demo)

The Spook School
As with Loch Awe, The Spook School were a band I wanted to see live so much that I practically begged them to come and do a gig for me so I could watch them. Despite having very little recorded yet they've made a pretty decent impression with more than just me, shown by them ramraiding the readers' poll at the end of last year. As a band they are still rough around the edges, which - at least for now - just adds to their charm for me. Fingers crossed we hear much more of them this year, and other people than me make them come and play in Glasgow.
The Spook School - Are You Who You Think You Are?

This is a picture of Mýa, apparently she's going to kill us all this year, or something.

Five Things For Thursday

One of my aims for this year is to stop hearing something I like, thinking "yeah, I like this, must put it on the blog sometime" then completely forgetting to put it on the blog ever. With that in mind then, here's a handful of music for you with minimal chatter from me, all either free or "pay what you like" to download.

Fat Janitor - Lurk
You always knew the school janitor was up to no good, didn't you? Well, here's some proof. Lurk is available to download free from Bandcamp. Play loud.


Aloha Tigers - The Kind of Girl U Like
Ian that used to write Have Fun at Dinner has been talking about this band for as long as I can remember, and is now going one step further by making them the first release on his new tape label, Kirkcudbright Tape Club.
The Kind of Girl U Like is the first single released, free to download.
Aloha Tigers - The Kind of Girl U Like by kirkcudbrighttapeclub

Hipster Death Squad - Good Times Again
A band that I found through Peenko's Friday Freebies, Hipster Death Squad have been firing out a fair amount of new songs since I first started stalking following them. They've just released a new single as a free download from Bandcamp, and I really like this one, so here you go.


As In Bear - Mr Glued
Last night my readers voted them one of the best new bands in the poll, today a free download arrives in my inbox. That's what I call good timing.
Mr. Glued by As In Bear

mi mye - the time and the lonleyness
I had mi mye on the Advent Calendar last month, along with a mental note to myself to keep an eye out for more from them. Turns out I didn't have to wait very long. They say that the time and the lonleyness, their new album, isn't officially out until February, but you can download it right now from Bandcamp, so why don't you?