Friday Freebies - 26/10/2012

Oh, hello. Your hair looks nice tonight, are you going somewhere fancy?
As you probably haven't noticed since no one reads this anyway, it's been a couple of weeks since I've done a Friday Freebies. I could blame various things, but really it's just my fault for being a bit rubbish.
Due to two missed weeks I've got a bit of a backlog, but I won't post them all today. For one thing, there'd be too many for anyone to pay attention to, and for another thing I've started writing this at 11:15 on Friday night after coming home from work, so I've only got a small amount of time to get it finished before it is officially late again.
Backlogged freebies will appear over this and the next few weeks instead, maybe even a bonus midweek freebies if I can be arsed. Probably not then.

French Wives
Freebie number one for the week comes with a big ole plug too, bonus! On Saturday night myself, Peenko, and Scottish Fiction are teaming up to put on the first of our new regular gig nights. It takes place at The Flying Duck from 7pm, with French Wives, Cancel the Astronauts and The Bad Books all playing songs for you to listen and dance to. Do come along, please.
French Wives meanwhile are offering up the seasonally titled Halloween, taken from their debut album, as a free download at the moment. The album version differs quite a lot from the old single version, which was the first song of theirs that made me pay attention to them. Different, but no less ace. Download Halloween free here.

Drunk Mule
A band that made frequent appearances in the freebies when Peenko did them, Drunk Mule have gone and released a new album, available for the price of your choosing, which gets them in here too. I Built a Death Ray is available here.

Monster Island.
A new monster island single just a few weeks after the last one? Those kind Manchester gents really do spoil us. Shaking Hands is the second single from their upcoming new album. The album will be out in December, the single is available for free right here now. Go get it, I like this lot. Oh, there's a video for the single too, you can watch that here.

The Yawns
I don't know a great deal about The Yawns, which fulfils my regular "you haven't researched this at all, have you?" freebie slot. What I do know is that a) they have an album out now, released by Electropapknit, who always put out decent stuff and b) the album is really good. Download the self titled album for free here.

Jo Mango
I made the Jo Mango/Joe Mangel last time I posted new stuff from Jo. It wasn't funny then, and I now wish I hadn't brought it up. Can I distract you from the terrible joke by pointing you towards a new, free Jo Mango single? I can? Excellent. Go over here for the download then.

Loch Awe
You may remember Loch Awe from such things as playing at one of my Aye Tunes gigs, being generally pretty good, or having the dubious honour of being in my rubbishy but standard "ones to watch" list this year. Proving once again that I know nothing, they split up a wee while ago. Happily, they've made two of the songs they recorded at Chem 19 Studios earlier in the year available as free downloads, as something of a parting gift. Annoyingly, the songs sound really bloody good. Ah well, we'll enjoy them anyway, even if there won't be any more. Get the downloads here.

Fat Goth
Fat Goth seem to attract quite a lot of interweb attention from their name alone. They have rather good songs too though, the latest example being Debbie's Dirty Harry, available to download free here.

St Deluxe
After what feels like a looooong time in hiding, the good news is that a new St Deluxe album is imminent. Even better news is that there's a new, free single from the band out now to get your appetite for the album going. Get Born Into Flame here.

And now time grows short, and my cold infested body is ready to give up on me, so that's your freebies for the week. Enjoy, share, tell us what you liked, and come to my gig on Saturday, please?

Not Friday Freebies

We all knew it was only a matter of time before I blew the deadline for the freebies one week. Today is that momentous day.

Short version, continued computer problems means I've listened to nothing this week, and work schedule means I've not had time to even draft up stuff I already know I'll like. I don't have time to get a post written before I start today.

Better news, I've got a new HD, so once I complete the long and tedious data transfer process, I'll be able to listen to music on my computer again. Hooray.

Freebies will be written up when I come home from work tonight, but that's not going to be till after Midnight, so you'll likely get your weekly dose of freebies at around lunchtime on Saturday instead of on Friday this week. Sorry.

Anyway, here's a picture of a thing I'm doing with some friends at the end of the month.

Friday Freebies - 05/10/2012

Hi. Friday. Stuff. Free.

op
Take a handful of John Knox Sex Club, add a pinch of North American War and what do you get? Some kind of horrendous cake made of humans, possibly. Or, you could get op. Baby I'm Breaking Up With You, complete with minimalist track titles, is available here for whatever you want to pay for it, and it's good.

Trapped Mice
Trapped Mice did my first ever Aye Tunes Presents gig, so it wouldn't be unfair to say I've not got the most unbiased opinion of them. As always with these things though, I wouldn't have asked them to play a gig for me if I didn't like the band. I've had a copy of their their upcoming album Winter Sun for the best part of a year now, so I'm very happy that it has found a home and will be out soon for other people to hear to. You can get a taster of what's in store with a free download of Mona Lisa here.

How To Swim
Mostly seen round these parts due to their unfailing ability to have something for me to post in the Advent Calendar series every December - an ability which I'm told will continue this year - How To Swim have a new, free single out now. Download It Doesn't Even Have To Be You here. There's a video here too, if you like to watch things.

The Cherry Wave
Another repeat freebie this week. I've mentioned The Cherry Wave's debut EP here before, but since they are having a launch gig tomorrow night, I'll mention them again. The gig is at The Roxy 171, with support from The Scottish Enlightenment, No Island and Ursula Minor, which is rather tasty looking. Download the EP free here, or buy it on tape at the gig.

Allan J Swan
If Allan puts music on the internet for free, I'll plug it. That's the deal. New song Unrequited Love (It's Not Enough) is very different from Allan's other recent solo work, such as his Don't Look Down album, but every bit as good.. Download the track for free here.

The Ritas
It's all been very Scottish so far this week, so time to venture south, I think. Some glitter pop music from that England then, courtesy of the always ace Odd Box Records then? Yes please. Download She's With The Band/Slash Fic for free here.

Johnny and the Giros
And back up the road to Scotland again, as Johnny and the Giros have a new, free single available from today. I Don't Need a Lover can be downloaded for nowt here.

Matchstick Maker
There's often someone I know next to nothing about in the Freebies, so let's keep up that tradition by throwing Matchstick Maker into the mix this week. I'm very thin on details, but the Fireside EP was recorded in a day, and released not soon after, and available for you to download for free here. This also handilly ticks the lo-fi folkish Scottish indie box for the week, magic.

NeonFaith
We'll finish off the freebies this week with another trip outside Scotland. All the way we go to New York City, to find NeonFaith, and a nice wee bit of dark electro indie, which pushed my buttons. Download Mercury for free here.

Friday Freebies - 28/9/2012

Well, it's that time of week again. Here's some free music.

Rollor
Not a new freebie, in fact it has already been included in one of these before, but it's getting mentioned again. I saw Rollor for the first time in bloody ages last night, along with Black International, and my ears are still ringing a bit today from the quality noise both bands provided. Rollor have a few free things on their Bandcamp, the most recent being latest album Beasts In Men Shapes. Go here and get some music.

Sex Hands
In full giving credit where due mode, and at the risk of looking like a suck up, Song, by Toad Records are probably the most consistent label going round these parts in terms of putting out stuff that I like. Their recently released split 12" featuring PAWS, Dolfinz, Waiters and Sex Hands is no exception. One of the Sex Hands tracks from the 12", Chandler In a Box, is currently available to download free here.
Sex Hands play at The Wee Red Bar in Edinburgh this Saturday, along with Plastic Animals, Zed Penguin and The Scottish Enlightenment. That looks brilliant.

Randolph's Leap
Long time blog favourites Randolph's Leap have just gone and signed to Fence Records, but have also managed to find time to stick out a new album on Peenko Records. Despite that label, just like Song, by Toad, being run be a deplorable bastard, I'll mention it anyway. As Fast As a Man is a follow up of sorts to previous release The Curse of the Haunted Headphones, in that it was mainly recorded by Adam from the band on his own, in his house. It's a lovely wee lo-fi affair, and available to buy here. Goodbye from the album is a free download here.

Monster Island
Always a pleasure to fit these fine Manchester folks into the freebies, and always good to hear new stuff from them. They've got a new album coming out in December, but to keep us going until then there's a new single out now. Ferris Wheel can be downloaded free here. It's ace, so go and get it.

The Japanese War Effort
Professional tall person Martin Moog always gives good songs, and great song titles. He has a new collection of such things available now, so go help yourself to It's All Downhere From Hill here.

Arran Arctic
Singer/songwriter type Arran Arctic has a new, free single out. Covers is taken from his upcoming album Like Lovers, and available to download free from his website.

200peoplefaint
I'm very short on details for this one, but that never stops me. Doxa is a nice wee bit of layered, looped ambient noises, I really liked the EP, and you can here it for yourself and download it here.

Good Grief
Not content with putting out good records like Young Philadelphia's EP, Good Grief also put out the occasional wee compilation, like a tape with a fanzine. The latest one includes The Cherry Wave, Mondegreen, Without Aeroplanes and Atlas : Empire, all good stuff. Grab the compilation here.

Friday Freebies - 21/9/2012

Well, this will be interesting. Due to starting a new job (the official first day of which I'll be at when this posts, so any complaints will be dealt with later) I've barely been on the internet all week.

As well as having a massive pile of unread emails, I've also not had a chance to plug the next gig I'm involved in. More pertinently, I've not been keeping an eye out for freebies terribly well, so this week might end up being a bit of a random selection. I'm also operating on not much, so I'll keep this pretty brief too.

Lovers Turn To Monsters
I really like Withered Hand, but then, doesn't everyone? Lovers Turn To Monsters certainly does. As a challenge to himself Kyle has covered the Withered Hand album in its entirety, which you can listen to and download here. Lovers Turn To Monsters is too long to fit on the wee receipt up top though.

Kowalskiy
Another monthly compilation from the Kowalskiy blog, with Aye Tunes favourites King Post Kitsch and Bottle of Steven on board, as well as tom, who was in the freebies a few weeks ago, with Be Like Pablo and Greyhound Out of Mainline rounding things out. Grab the EP here.

Evil Hand
The sometimes other half of Bottle of Evil, along with the aforementioned Bottle of Steven, Evil Hand popped up in here just a few weeks ago. An unusually quick reappearance then, with a cover of a band who are quite well know. Download the Evil Hand take on Territorial Pissings here.

Giant Squidz
This lot popped up in the Christmas Advent Calendar posts at the end of last year. I'd probably have included them on name alone, but handily I liked the release they had at the time too. Anyway, now they've thrown a new song into the wilds of the internet, which you can download for free here.

Rob St John
Last year's album from Rob St John was pretty blooming swell. Now here what happens when a bunch of other people are let loose on it, with a free remix album here.

Olympic Swimmers
Round about now the sleep deprivation is really kicking in, so I'll do this entry in the style of an over enthusiastic press person, many of whom have emails unread in my inbox right now. New Olympic Singers single! Free download! Remix from Miaoux Miaoux! Free! Here!

State Broadcasters
To celebrate the release of their second album (Ghosts We Must Carry, available here) State Broadcasters have gone and stuck out a free EP to go wit the album. Different versions and non-album tracks make up the Table EP, which you can get your paws on here.

Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson
This one comes via the other half. Can we call her Ms. Tunes, or will she hit me for that? Either way, it nicely fills the "something foreign" space that I like to have in the freebies for this week, since I've not had a chance to look properly myself. Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson hail from Oslo, and are offering up Past/future on a pay what you want basis here.

Finn LeMarinel
The Trapped In Kansas fella Finn has his debut solo record coming out soon. As a wee teaser you can download Places Known for free here. The album, Violence, comes out on October 17th.

Bellow Below
Southern Opal is the lead single from a new Bellow Below EP. The EP is out in October, the single is free here.

Eh, aye, that'll do. Properly written and researched freebies will return in a couple of weeks. Well, I say properly...

Friday Freebies - 14/9/2012

It is Friday afternoon, that means it must be freebie time. Yes, it's a wee bit later this week, that's because last night I was out boozing and watching bands. I'm sure you coped with the wait.

Scottish Fiction
Blog buddies Scottish Fiction have the latest - and penultimate - of their monthly free EPs out now. Featuring songs from Algernon Doll, Drunk Mule, Vcheka and 7of7, you can download free here. Side note, Vcheka's album is ace.

Algernon Doll
If Algernon Doll's inclusion on the Scottish Fiction EP isn't enough for you, then you can also go grab yourself a download of his latest album, Camomile, for the price of your choosing here.

Cuddly Shark
New stuff from Cuddly Shark makes for a happy wee Jim. Good news then that a new EP will be along in a couple of weeks. Help yourself to the title track, Body Mass Index, here. If you are feeling flush you can pre-order the EP here too.

Allan J Swan
I've still not entirely gotten over You Already Know calling it a day, but I'm getting there. Former member Allan J Swan has always dabbled with other styles of music, the latest results being the solo album Don't Look Down. You can pick up a copy of that pretty cheap here. This is Friday freebies, not Friday Cheap Stuff though, so skip over to Soundcloud and snag yourself a free download of In Me from the album.

Hypstonite
New Edinburgh gig/club night Hypstonite have a compilation of the bands playing their first night up for free download. For zero pence you get songs from Capitals, Honeyblood, Dead Boy Robotics and Sun Dogs. Download it here, where you can also get cheap tickets for the October 5th gig.

Young Philadelphia
This lot have their first EP on the way soon. Get yourself a nice noisy taster of it with a free download of The Bad Fire here. There's an EP launch gig at Pivo Pivo on September 21st, which also features the rather splendid Battery Face.

FUCK!
Any excuse to type swear words in all caps is one I can't miss. Murderburgers spin-off FUCK!* (It's Pronounced SHIT!)* deliver the excuse this week, with a free EP available here.

Katerwaul
Ahead of the release of their new album The Dirt & the Trees in October Katerwaul have a new single out to give you a hint of what's in store. Download February for whatever price you want here.

Friday Freebies - 07/09/2012

I'll spare you much preamble this week. I know no one reads it anyway. I could say anything in this bit and never get caught. But onward, to music!

Behold, the Old Bear
Handily timed to allow me to mention once again that I have a gig on next week, not that I need an excuse, Behold, the Old Bear have popped up a wee song for you to download for free. Grab their cover of Harry Nislson's Swee'Pea's Lullaby, from the soundtrack to the Popeye film, here. Then come to the gig on Tuesday.

Carter USM
Opportunities to talk about Carter USM don't come up too often on the blog, so when one presents itself I'll take it. That opportunity this time round is a live recording from 1991, made available by Carter for the price of your choosing over here. There's releases of 30 Something and 1992: The Love Album coming out in November, so if anyone is planning a Christmas present for me at the moment, they'd be good. If you can get me into their November gig at King Tuts that would be excellent too.

Edinburgh School for the Deaf
It's been a while since I've heard anything from this lot. Their debut album from last year went in one of my lists, before line-up changes seemed to derail them slightly. They've been playing plenty gigs over the past wee while, but it was still a wee surprise to see something new from them appear quite suddenly. The new thing is In Dreams Lie Guilt, which at 5 tracks falls into the hazy ground between EP and mini album. Whatever you want to class it as, it is good, and you can pay what you want for it here.

The Barents Sea
Someone else I've not heard from in ages! Also, confusing typing time, since The Barents Sea is sort of a band, but only has one proper member, so now I need to work out whether to say he or they. We'll go with the later, since a full band was involved on these songs. I'll now end the rambling, and direct you towards a pay what you want EP by The Barents Sea here.

Overlook Records
Spiffing Glasgow label Overlook Records gave away a free sampler CD at their first birthday party a wee while back. I couldn't go, so missed out on one, as well as missing out on fun. This annoyed me, since I like fun, and free things. They've now made the label sampler available as a free download though, so that's very nice of them. Redrum has tracks from The Darien Venture, Trapped in Kansas, Salò, Bellow Bellow, So Many Animal Calls, Vasa and Crusades on it, and you can download it here for free.

Jo Mango
When did yer man from Neighbours become a Scottish woman? Oh, sorry, I thought you said Joe Mangel. My mistake. Anyway, Cordelia is a taster of Jo's imminent second album, and is available to download here.

Turn Off Your Television
Mainly Scottish freebies this week so far, except from Carter. I have a cosmopolitan image to keep up though, so quickly, overseas! Lovely Swedes Turn off your television have released a new single, Blanket of shame, taken from their upcoming album Humble Waves. You can grab that here for the price of your choosing. If you like what you hear then you can get hold of their last album on Bandcamp on a pay what you want deal too.

Crab For Darkfast
Not nearly enough bands give you recipes. Thankfully Crab For Darkfast have spotted this gap in the market , and a download of their EP will also yield four free recipes, so you can cook while you listen. Food not suitable for vegitarians though, so set your excitement levels accordingly. Get The Whole Hog here.

Golden Fable
Welsh due Golden Fable release their debut album Star Map this coming Monday. Ahead of that they are giving away an acoustic version of Always Golden, which also appears on an acoustic EP available with the deluxe edition of the album. Download the freebie here, the album can be ordered here.

tom
I know next to nothing about tom. Do research then you say? Well, that's no fun. I do know that I was pointed towards Ohneiros, his new album, during the week, and said album is really good. Find out for yourself by getting it here.

One Week To Go: Behold, the Old Bear / Plastic Animals / Left of Venus

Just one week to go till Aye Tunes gig night again, so it is time to plug the darn thing once again.

Continuing our nomadic existence we're off to another venue again, this time we'll be setting up shop at The 13th Note on Tuesday, September 11th.

Here's what's in store.

Behold, the Old Bear
Once a side project, now a real grown up band, Behold, the Old Bear are the new ship captained by Raindeer of Mitchell Museum fame. A five-piece making "Melodramatic Polar Blitz Alt Pop", with a debut album coming soon on Gargleblast Records. There's heartbreak in there too, Peenko sometimes needs a wee cuddle after hearing 7 Maybe 8. Probably my favourite "new" band of the year too. Come and find out why I like them so much for yourself.


Plastic Animals
I've been trying to do something with Plastic Animals for ages, even more so after bonding over a shared love of Urusei Yatsura, and finally the stars aligned this time round.  Formed in Edinburgh way back in 2006, they finally got their shit together in 2011 and expanded both their sound and line-up to which has helped develop the sound much more. They make atmospheric, guitar-driven, harmonious noise. They released an EP under the name of "Automaton". After the first hand-made batch sold out, Scottish DIY label Strange Fish Records are re-releasing it in September. Plastic Animals have shared stages with some terrible bands over the years, but also some great ones like PS I Love You, Milk Maid, Broken Records, The Scottish Enlightenment and PAWS.


Left of Venus
Left of Venus is the solo guise of Thomas Campbell,  instrumental guitarist from Glasgow, blending ambience, minimalism, classical, and noise by way of the electric guitar.


So there you go.

That's Behold, the Old bear, Plastic Animals and Left of Venus at The 13th Note, on the 11th of September.
Doors open at 8pm, and it'll cost you five quid on the door to get in.
Should you be so inclined, you can claim you are coming on Facebook here, but I'll be happier to see your faces on the night.
Come along or the terrorists win.

Friday Freebies - 31/8/2012

It's been another week of misbehaving computers round here. If anyone would like to buy me a new hard drive, or indeed a whole new computer, that would be smashing. Maybe I should start a Kickstarter or something. Donate £20 and you can punch me in the face.
Enough of my complaining though, it's freebie time. Fans of reading stuff at lunchtime will be happy to see I'm back on an earlier schedule this week too.

Mondegreen
A mere year and a half since releasing their first EP, and a year since Peenko and I roped them into gigging for us, Mondegreen have gotten round to making a second one. I was just thinking on the bus today about how long I've enjoyed this band - I think about weird things on the bus - and the answer involves things like exchanging messages on MySpace, so ages. Mondegreen play The Glad Cafe on the southside of Glasgow tonight, then at Bloc on September 13th (two days after you are all coming to my next gig yeah?), all of which seems like an awful lot of activity from them. Anyway, go get Aberdoom! here, because it is ace.

Falls
Speaking of people I've put on at gigs (have I mentioned that I've got another one coming up soon?), loud and handsome Welshmen have gone and slung out a free new single. Two thumbs up for this, one for being right good, another for being well named. Get Heisenberg for free here.

Music Language Festival
The Music Language festival takes place across various spots in Glasgow on this Saturday and Sunday, for full details pop over to the website. To get you into the spirit of things there's a 19 track download compilation available for whatever price you want here. Some of my favourites from the compilation are Aggi Doom, Hector Bizerk, Big Ned (who I thought had vanished entirely), Palms, Rob St John and Mother Ganga, but there's plenty more good stuff in there too.

Idle Fret
Lots of good stuff on this compilation from London club night/record label, Idle Fret. Favourites of mine in there include a new song from Monster Island, an oldie but a goodie from The Lovely Eggs and Giant Burger sneaking in to make back to back Friday Freebies appearances. Snag the compilation here.

Congregations
This submission came with an offer to kill to have it included in the freebies. I'm saving the email, just in case I need to call in a favour in future. Circular Ruins is a bit of ambient/electronic music, the kind of stuff that I need to be in a certain mood to properly enjoy, but handily caught me in that mood at about 3am on the first listen, so enjoy it I did. You can name your price for the download from Bandcamp.

Secret Motorbikes
I'm possibly just tired, but the info section of the Secret Motorbikes Facebook page has highly amused me. Here's a new song from them. It's free here. Good too. "Good too" - an internet blog.


The Darien Venture
The Darien Venture have a new EP somewhere up their sleeves, due out later in the year. To help you work up an appetite for it you can get hold of a free three song sampler here.


Gastric Band
I won't lie, I've barely listened to this, and it is being included almost entirely on the basis of the pervy album art. I'll listen to it later, if it turns out to be terrible I'll quietly edit this part out and hope no one notices. Download Party feel here.

The State Broadcasters
This has been a bit of a week for "blimey, I've not heard anything from them in ages!" entries. The State Broadcasters have been fairly active of late, with gigs and singles and such, but it has been a long time since that first album. Not to worry though, their second album is just a few weeks from release - of of the perks of being a barely known internet blog is that I've heard it already, and liked it plenty - and they've got a new, free single available now to put you in the mood for Ghosts We Must Carry. Download Kittiwake for free here.

I'm out of clever ways to plug the next Aye Tunes gig - some might say that I never had clever ways in the first place - so here's a clumsy and inelegant reminder that I'M PUTTING ON A GIG ON THE 11TH AND YOU SHOULD COME. Thanks.

Presenting Again

Goodness, it hardly feels like any time at all since I was a nervous wreck about the last Aye Tunes gig, but here I am with the next one less than two weeks away already.

Continuing our nomadic existence we're off to another venue again, this time we'll be setting up shop at The 13th Note on Tuesday, September 11th. I'll try my best to say nothing inappropriate about the date.

Here's what's in store.

Behold, the Old Bear
Once a side project, now a real grown up band, Behold, the Old Bear are the new ship captained by Raindeer of Mitchell Museum fame. A five-piece making "Melodramatic Polar Blitz Alt Pop", with a debut album coming soon on Gargleblast Records. There's heartbreak in there too, Peenko sometimes needs a wee cuddle after hearing 7 Maybe 8. Probably my favourite "new" band of the year too. Come and find out why I like them so much for yourself.


Plastic Animals
I've been trying to do something with Plastic Animals for ages, even more so after bonding over a shared love of Urusei Yatsura, and finally the stars aligned this time round.  Formed in Edinburgh way back in 2006, they finally got their shit together in 2011 and expanded both their sound and line-up to which has helped develop the sound much more. They make atmospheric, guitar-driven, harmonious noise. They released an EP under the name of "Automaton". After the first hand-made batch sold out, Scottish DIY label Strange Fish Records are re-releasing it in September. Plastic Animals have shared stages with some terrible bands over the years, but also some great ones like PS I Love You, Milk Maid, Broken Records, The Scottish Enlightenment and PAWS.


Left of Venus
Left of Venus is the solo guise of Thomas Campbell,  instrumental guitarist from Glasgow, blending ambience, minimalism, classical, and noise by way of the electric guitar.


So there you go.

That's Behold, the Old bear, Plastic Animals and Left of Venus at The 13th Note, on the 11th of September.
Doors open at 8pm, and it'll cost you five quid on the door to get in.
Should you be so inclined, you can claim you are coming on Facebook here, but I'll be happier to see your faces on the night.

Friday Freebies - 24/08/2012

Got the year right first try this time.Still didn't get the post finished for lunchtime though.
Sorry, I was laughing at a ferret.

Louie
Hot off the presses, this one. Recorded just yesterday, here's a brand spanking new slab of hip hop from one half of Hector Bizerk. Download Stoichkov for free here.


Giant Burger
Related to Baaneex, who I liked and had on before, Giant Burger do proggy, folky rock that I struggle to describe. There's nothing hackneyed about these guys! They come from Hackney. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Anyway, find there stuff here, there's some name your price downloads, and a 7" you can buy.

Sean Armstrong
Practically worth a Friday Freebies column of its own, Sean Armstrong has released his third album, and didn't hold back in the process. 71 (seventy one!) tracks, a couple of hours long, and available for whatever you feel like paying, you can get Effluvial Juggernaut here.

Aidan Moffat
Recorded as part of Scottish Book Trust's My Favourite Places project, here's Aidan Moffat singing about  about the wall where he used to meet up and hang about with his mates as a Falkirk youngster. Free download here.

Euros Childs
Him again. It's not my fault Euros has been busy. This week he released his latest album, which is, unsurprisingly, rather good. Summer Special can be downloaded here, and you can make a donation for it, or buy a physical copy.

Male Pattern Band
I'd thought Male Pattern Band had pretty much chucked it, since they all but vanished for a while there. They haven't though, they've come back with a new line up and a new song. Download Sunday Driver for free here.

Tribal Fighters
Rounding off the freebies this week are a band we've not had on here since Christmas. Manchester gents Tribal Fighters have been beavering away at their debut EP, and now it's been set free into the big wide World for you to have a listen. You can listen to it, and download it for whatever price you fancy, at Bandcamp.

That's your lot, see you next week at another random time on Friday.

Friday Freebies - 17/08/2012

Who had three weeks on the "how long until Jim is late with the freebies" sweepstake? I'm only a couple of hours behind schedule, so I'm not that late. Blame a combination of my computer being a temperamental wee bitch and me having spent most of the week scrabbling around trying to book the next Aye Tunes gig. That's on September 11th by the way, but I'll tell you more about it later.

Kowalskiy
First freebie of the week is a multi band one, as Kowalskiy has his latest free EP out now. Featuring tracks from Esperi, Slow Building Seas, Shooting Stansfield, Run/Lucky/Free and The Sunset Clause, you can grab the EP for free here.

Father Sculptor
I told you they'd be in the freebies a fair bit. Father Sculptor continue releasing a new song every fortnight, with the latest, Aristide, available here.

Neil Milton
Long term friend of the blog Neil Milton has not one, but two new EPs out. They are name your price rather than free, so if you want to pay a few quid for them, that would be good. Skies is available here, while Seas is available here.

The Cherry Wave
This lot are pretty new, I think. If you like fuzzy, lo-fi, droney shoegazey alt-rock, and goodness knows I do, then pick up their EP for free here. They also play their first gig at Pivo Pivo on Sunday.

Burning Buildings
Here's a twinkly new song from Manchester's Burning Buildings, available for free here. I rather like it.

Euros Childs
The former Gorky's man is back again, with another new single ahead of the imminent release of his latest album. That's Better can be downloaded here for free, or you can make a donation if the mood strikes you.

Peenko's Pick
Cancel the Astronauts
Peenko's choice of freebie this week is a preview of the debut album from Cancel the Astronauts. Making Dynamite is available for free here, and you can listen to the whole Animal Love Match album here. It's a cracking album, and I'll have more about it on the blog soon.

Politics and music blogs are two things that shouldn't really go together if you ask me, but it's probably worth noting than one thing I reckon should be free on this particular Friday, isn't. If you've not seen the news yet, Pussy Riot have been sentenced to two years in jail each. It's hardly a surprise that Russia isn't a wonderful oasis of human rights and free speech, but it's still lousy.

Friday Freebies - 10/08/2012

It's Friday, here's a bunch of music that you can get without paying any money.
Enjoy, and do let us know if there's anything that tickles your fancy.

Discopolis
Starting off with something bleepy from Discopolis, Summer Mixtape is available for free here. Two new tracks, two new versions of old ones, all for nowt.

Rollor
From bleeps to distortion, Rollor have a new album! I forgot about this last week, apologies. Beats In Men Shapes is available from Bandcamp as a free download, or you can buy it on tape.

Evil Hand
Evil Hand just finished the first track from their as yet untitled new album Rather kindly, it's available as a free download. Get Ten years here. S'good.


Chemikal Underground
Released a wee while ago on Amazon, Chemikal have now made their label compilation Secret Hits available to download for free on their website. Containing tracks from Chemikal releases old and new, it's pretty much brilliant. Get it here.

Be Like Pablo
Be Like Pablo were a couple of hours to late for inclusion last week, so here they are this time round. They've made their debut album, The New Adventures, available to download for absolutely free, all you have to do is register at their website. It's a nice wee pop album, goes well with sunshine, and worth signing up for.

Fresh Fringe
Another year, another Fringe, and another compilation from the people at Fresh Air Radio. The Inside Track Volume 3 has ace bands like PAWS, Sparrow and the Workshop, Kill the Waves, Dolfinz and more on it. It also has Bwani Junction and The LaFontaines, but there's a down side to everything. You can name your price for the download, but do note proceeds go to the Waverly Care charity when choosing your sum. The album is available from  Bandcamp.

Pulco
Described by Pulco himself as "a bit eclectic and weird", the Eh - Vont - Gade EP mixed odd noises with spoken word packages. It is a bit eclectic, and a bit weird, and I like it. Grab it for free at Bandcamp.

Falls
If you missed out on Falls playing in Glasgow a few weeks ago for Aye Tunes (and statistically you probably did, I was counting) then you missed out on having to peel your eyelids from your face after they finished. You can however get hold of a few of their songs, as four demos are available for free on Bandcamp.

Zombie Girlfriend
Zombie Girlfriend are my favourite Hungarian lo-fi garage rock band. Admittedly, they are the only one I know, but that doesn't stop them being fab. They've just followed up last year's Music For Porn album (one of my favourite albums of 2011) with not one but two new EPs. Gray and Pink & Blue will cost you a minimum of $1 each on Bandcamp, but if you hop over there and look closely you'll see how you can get them for free if you are cheap.

Peenko's Pick
Holy Esque
"I guess it's true that the Scottish blogosphere can quite often be accused of over hyping up and coming bands, only to see them fall flat on their face when they venture south of the border. In Holy Esque I reckon we have a band that seem to be living up to their early buzz. Following on from their cracking self-titled EP, the band are currently giving away a free download of an track called 'Tear', every time I hear this band I can't help but think of Two Gallants, which is no bad thing in my eyes/ears. If that sounds like it might be your cup of tea then get downloading here."

Friday Freebies - 03/08/2012

It's been an interesting wee week in the Scottish music blog World, with both The Pop Cop and Peenko making a few changes top how they run. Never one to miss an opportunity, and in an attempt to make myself do at least one post a week, with Peenko's blessing I'm taking over his long running Friday Freebies feature.
He now owns a 51% controlling stake in my soul. More fool him.

So, stop by here on a Friday afternoon and I'll try to keep your ears busy with a selection of free (or sometimes "pay what you want") music. Maybe you'll even like some of it?

Father Sculptor
With the promise of a new, free song ever fortnight over the summer I'd imagine Father Sculptor might make a few appearances here. Their latest release, Frances, came out this week and can be downloaded for free here. Have a little click round their Bandcamp page while you are there and you'll find some other treats too.

Magnetic Island
This Brooklyn bunch's self titled debut album came out at the start of the year, as has been a firm favourite with me since. Nice timing then that this free download popped up in my inbox just as I inherited a feature dedicated to free downloads, so I can feature it! Magnetic Island's bare bones take on the Sleater-Kinney song Turn It On is available free from their Soundcloud page, and you can listen/download from the wee embedded player below too.



Battery Face
Battery Face released their debut album, Addams Family Values, earlier this week. Nine tracks of noisy alt rock, each taking a name from an Addams Family character. A bit experimental, a bit messy, and quite a large amount of fun. Addams Family Values is available as a name your price download, or you can buy a pretty looking CD, at Bandcamp.

The Spook School
I love The Spook School, they are fab and contain my favourite regularly shirtless drummer. They've also got a 7" coming out soon on US label Cloudberry Records. That 7" is available for pre-order now from the Cloudberry website, where you can also snag a free download of A-side Here We Go. Hop over here and scroll down a bit.

Thirty Pounds of Bone
Confession time, I mostly missed out on The Ships Log until this week. This week happened to see the final instalment of it though, so I didn't snooze too long. I've come to expect really good things from Thirty Pounds of Bone, and Mr. Lamb has yet to let me down. Download free from Bandcamp, and find out the full story behind the project there too.

Tiny Birds
How about something rather jaunty sounding? Well, here's Tiny Birds with their new single Bread and Pickle, coming along to remind me that not all a bit twee jaunty indie-folk-pop sets me teeth on edge. That's supposed to be a recommendation, by the way. Download Bread and Pickle for free here.

Relatives
More people from Brooklyn? Well, ok then. This is the kind of thing that all too often pops up in my inbox, gets listened to lots and enjoyed, but never actually makes it on the blog, so hopefully now there'll be less of that kind of thing happening now I've got the freebies to mention stuff in. Relatives have a couple of gigs in Scotland coming up in September, so I'll get back to them properly before they come to visit, but in the meantime their latest EP Tardy Mark has been floating my boat. It's a bit folky,  a bit odd, and can be had for the price of your choosing on Bandcamp.

Doppelganger
When both the lovely Welsh bands that have travelled up to Glasgow for an Aye Tunes gig recommend someone at the same time, I pay attention. So it happened that Falls and Exit_International nudged me in the direction of Doppleganger. Their three track EP is a nice wee slab of rock, and free to download here. Play loud.

Scottish Fiction
Before I go it would be poor form of me not to direct you towards our blog buddies Scottish Fiction. Not only is the latest instalment of their monthly free EPs available now, but to celebrate one year of putting them together, there's a treasure hunt going on with 12 new tracks scattered across the previously released EPs. Head over to the Scottish Fiction blog to find out more, and Bandcamp to download.

Peenko's Pick
That's right, we've not gotten rid of him entirely. Peenko will be lending a hand when he feels like it with his choice of freebie of the week. To start with he's nominated Euros Childs. This double A-side was released way back at the end of May, and is a pretty ace little slice of pop, with Childs backed on the single by the gentlemen from The Wellgreen.
Spin That Girl Around/Just a Dream is available to download here. You can donate to Euros if you want there too.
Here's what Peenko has to say about it:
"So this all a bit odd, me writing about a free track on Aye Tunes?! I think it's pretty safe to say that this has been one crazy old week on the Scottish blogging scene. Personally I think it's great to see so many changes happening at once, it's always good to freshen things up a bit.
Thanks to Jim for taking over the Friday Freebies mantle, good luck that dude! Being the nice fella that he is, Jim has offered me the chance to contribute one free track every week. To start it all off I have decided to go with former Gorky's Zygotic Mynci frontman, Euros Childs and his track 'Spin That Girl Around' which is available to download from his homepage.
Although this came out a few months back, I only just started listening to it last week after he impressed the fuck (I am allowed to swear on here right?) out of me at Fence Record's Away Game Festival on Eigg. Most of the weekend is a still a bit hazy, but I can remember loving this song. It's a catchy wee bugger alright."
I don't know, you let him in and already he's swearing all over the place. Tch.

One Last Plug - Gig Tonight!

Just a couple of hours to go till kick off, so here's one final attempt at wooing the undecided into coming along to The Captains tonight.

Come along from 8pm, pay me six pounds, and see:

Eddy & the T-Bolts: Bandcamp - Facebook





FALLS: Bandcamp - Facebook




A Fight You Can't Win: Bandcamp - Facebook



Please?

Another Aye Tunes Gig - One Week To Go

I'm not good at quitting things. That's why I'm sitting here with a cigarette in my hand, writing about yet another gig I'm putting on.
As the post title says, there's one week to go till the next Aye Tunes gig. As usual I've picked a trio of bands from far and wide, booked them for a gig, and given myself something to panic about.

Eddy & the T-Bolts fill the "Glasgow band" slot. They are an energetic bunch, doing punk tinged rock and/or roll, with big riffs and even bigger choruses. All that, and a song about everyone's favourite wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Eddy & the T-Bolts: Bandcamp - Facebook





FALLS make up the "far" contingent, coming as they do from North Wales. See, we don't just like Scottish bands here at Aye Tunes, we also apparently like bringing Welsh ones to Glasgow. This is their first trip up here, so do come along and marvel at the strange Welsh men making noise. Bring friends! As for their music, imagine pop and metal had a torrid affair, this would be their offspring. Loud, brash, heavy but harmonious and fucking wonderful.
FALLS: Bandcamp - Facebook



A Fight You Can't Win come from Edinburgh, by way of Northern Ireland and Holland, so that makes them the "wide" selection for the evening. This is starting to resemble a weird UN day trip. AFYCW are a gentle, acoustic band, with a fine line in tender ballads. Of course they aren't, they even got a SAMA nomination for Best Metal Band for goodness sake. AFYCW are a sexy slap in the face, allied with a scream in your ear. Grungey, punky, shouty, sweary, y'know, all the good things.
A Fight You Can't Win: Bandcamp - Facebook



So there you go then, an evening of multi flavoured rock. What better are you going to do on a Tuesday night?

Everything takes place at The Captains on Tuesday, 24th July. Doors open at 8, and it'll only cost you £6 to get in. Ask me nicely and you can get two folk in for a tenner, so bring a pal and save money.

#EuroBAMS - The Final Round

Slightly late, but here's the final run down on the EuroBAMS fantasy league.
There was late drama once again.

Despite it looking like Stephen from Birdhead had the tournament in his pocket from pretty much day one, his gamble on Italian defenders instead of Spanish ones, along with a bad choice of changing his captain, saw him slip up at the last minute.
Claire from Catthouse, whose name I always manage to spell wrong even when it is written down in front of me, picked her team well and eliminated the eleven point gap going into the last match to take the trophy.
Just like we did at the World Cup two years ago, Aye Tunes battled hard to claim a respectable third place in the league.
There was heartbreak for AFYCW, as Campfires In Winter notched up a remarkable score in the final game to rocket into third position, knocking Sander's side out of the top five.
Further down kudos once again goes to Last year's Girlymen for their climb up the league, but Lisa-Marie's final standing was to prove no consolation for the actual football result.

Throughout the whole Knockout stages the real victors were the womenfolk. Claire and Lisa-Marie were the top scorers once we passed the group stages, with me in third. I've been called a big girl plenty of times too.

#EuroBams - Round Three

Semi finals over, time for another status report on the EuroBAMS fantasy league.

There's really not much to report though. Here's the updated table.

Click to make bigger, kiss to make boogie.

Birdhead's Stephen Donkin still sits at the top of the table, and is now almost certain to win the competition, barring a ridiculous turnaround in fortunes in the final game.
Clair from Catthouse has overtaken Christian from In Session to take second place, while team Aye Tunes has dropped to fifth. A strong round from the A Fight You Can't Win team sees Sander overtake me, apparently on alphabetical order. Stupid Germany and their stupid late goal.
It's all very tight in the rest of the top ten, it looks like there will be quite a battle to claim a top five finish this time round.

The best performance of the round award (note: not an actual reward) goes to Last Year's Girlymen, with Lisa-Marie striking another blow against the patriarchy through the medium of pretend football. Or something. I'm not sure where I'm going with this paragraph really.

Elsewhere, after a poor second round, Cope's Crusaders cling on to second place, with rumours abound that next time round they'll be pushing for inclusion in the top league as a newcope. I just wanted to use that pun really.

There's just the final game left, so chances to overtake rivals will be limited. It may well coem down to who can put together a strong team for the final match, who won't have enough transfers left to make the drastic changes they might need, and who saved their wildcard for this round, allowing them to dump all their disappointing players.

Come back on Monday to find out who has been crowned the winner. Then after Monday I'm going to have to go back to writing about music, since there's no more distractions I can use.

#EuroBAMS - Round Two

Here we go then, time for another look at the EuroBAMS Euro 2012 fantasy league. You can see the results of round one here.

As of the end of the quarter final stages, the league looks like this.

Click the image to make it big. Or squint your eyes to read tiny writing.

Once again, Birdhead's Stephen Donkin is sitting pretty at the top of the league. There was one brief wobble for him though, with him losing top spot briefly during round two to Fresh Air's Christian Illingworth. Christian is still breathing down Stephen's neck, with Catthouse's Claire Thomson catching up quickly too.
Team Aye Tunes has managed to clamber up the table a bit, but is now more points behind first place than I was at the end of the previous round when languishing at sixth in the table.

An impressive second round performance from Robbi Pinkerton rocketed him from 16th to 8th, while a relatively poor turn from Chris Cope's Crusaders saw him go in the opposite direction, falling from a comfortable top five place place to 12th.

There's still a lot of points to play for, but with a reduced number of players to choose from things can get tricky at this point. The small player pool means that many of us will have very similar squads in the closing stages, making gaining an advantage over our rivals rather difficult. It can be done though, as evidenced from the World Cup league two years ago, which went right to the wire, with Dear Scotland overtaking The Tidal Wave of Indifference at just about the last possible moment to take the title.

Dear Scotland will have their work cut out to retain their title this time round, but who knows what drama lurks ahead? Come back at the end of the week for one more update after the semi finals have been concluded, and we'll see who has the bit between their teeth ahead of Sunday's final.

Rick Redbeard / Adam Stafford Split 7"

The men behind Gerry Loves Records have a knack for getting money out of me. Despite having a barely function record or cassette player, they've managed to get me to buy everything they've released so far, all on those formats. With their latest split single they've got my hand in my pocket looking for a fiver again.

Rick Redbeard, who you may know better from The Phantom Band, takes on his side of the vinyl with Now We're Dancing. It's quite gentle, fragile and really rather pretty. Rick's deep, warm voice is a bit like the aural equivalent of a very welcome hug.

Adam Stafford takes the other side of the single, with Vanishing Tanks. Filled with his now trademark loops of guitar and vocals, with beatboxing thrown in. Add in a storming vocal on top, and a killer hook, and you've got one of the best pop songs I've heard all year. It's hardly a secret round these parts that I'm in love with Adam's stuff, this is just another reminder why, and I'll keep mentioning it until everyone listens to me.

To celebrate the launch of the single there's a few gigs on this week:
Thursday 21st June - Henry's, Edinburgh - Adam Stafford / Rick Redbeard, support from Wounded Knee Tickets
Friday 22nd June - Captain's Rest, Glasgow - Rick Redbeard / Adam Stafford, support from Yusuf Azak. Tickets
Saturday 23rd June - Cellar 35, Aberdeen - Rick Redbeard / Adam Stafford, support from Debutant. Tickets

The single is available to buy here now. The 7" comes with a free download, which includes an extra song from each artist.



More Information: Rick Redbeard - Adam Stafford - Gerry Loves Records