Gig Plugs, Mine and Other People

As you should know, this Saturday is my latest gig venture.

Taking place at The Art School in Glasgow, I've got Cleavers, The Cherry Wave and Mad Nurse playing. It'll be excellent and you should come. Further details, including songs and stuff, here.

There's other cool stuff happening over the next week or so too. A lot of it involves bands that have done gigs for me before, so here's some plugs for their efforts.

Birdhead haven't done anything with me, but are fab anyway, and one day I'll get them to say yes to a gig. They play Bloc on Wednesday night with Electric Gardens and Kill Surrrf

Black International have a new single out, released by Electric Company Music, and are off on tour to launch the thing. On Thursday they are at Edinburgh's Wee Red Bar, joined by the fab Little Anchors and Algernon Doll. Friday has them at Broadcast in Glasgow with Young Philadelphia and Pinact, in a night of entertainment where everyone has played a gig I've been involved in. After that they are off to Sheffield and Nottingham, but I doubt anyone reading this is from there. Until midnight on Tuesday you can get a ticket for the Edinburgh or Glasgow gigs and a copy of the 7" single for just £6, which is a grand deal, here.

King Tut's Summer Nights starts this week. I made a pie chart about the bands playing.

I probably won't bother.

Saturday is all about me, so while other gigs are available, I'm not telling you what.

Sunday has Miaoux Miaoux, now with a new full band, playing at Stereo in Glasgow. Support comes from Jonnie Common and Atom Tree. Cheaper than door price tickets are available in advance here.

Into next week and our best friends forever The Spook School are back in Glasgow, playing at The Glad Cafe on Tuesday the 23rd. They are supporting Tunabunny, who I'd have endorsed on their name alone. Then I heard their album and they are now one of my new favourite things.

Next Gig, Cheap Tickets!

Time waits for no man, so I'd better get on with plugging the next Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes Vs Peenko shindig eh?

I've been left in charge for July, so you get a very loud line up of bands I like, a bit more like my solo efforts than the group ones so far.

Mad Nurse have only made a brief appearance on the blog before in Friday Freebies, ages ago. You can still get hold of a free EP from them here, and I also fully encourage spending a couple of quid on their recently released The Rip EP here. They should be getting things off to a suitably raucous start.



The Cherry Wave have been pleasing my ears for about a year now, since the release of their first self titled EP. Both that and their second EP, Blush, released earlier this year can be yours over here. I asked them to play mostly because I like them lots, but also in part because they've been causing trouble recently, and I always enjoy that kind of thing. Wear your best shoes for them, to enhance your gazing fun.



I asked Cleavers to do a gig for me a full year ago, having decided they were my favourite new band in ages. They couldn't do it then, but this July they can, and although they aren't so new anymore, they are still one of my favourite bands in the country. They also cost me a decent chunk of cash, since they seem to put out something new for me to buy with alarming regularity. Noisy, brash, fast, but packed with melodies, I'm really delighted to finally be putting Cleavers on. If we ask them nicely they may even bring pyrotechnics.
There's loads of stuff available over here, a lot of it can be had for free, but as the band were recently robbed in London I'll urge you to pay for the music if you like it and have a few extra quid, they'd really appreciate the cash.



The gig takes place at The Art School on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow on Saturday July 20th, probably starting about 8. Entry will cost you a mere six pounds.

BUT if you buy a ticket in advance this week, you can get in for just £4. Bargain, eh? Tickets are available here. After Saturday the price goes up again, so act fast for big savings now, as people say in annoying adverts.

Gig Plug: Beerjacket, Shambles Miller, Lovers Turn To Monsters - This Saturday!

There's only a few days to go until the next Scottish Fiction/Aye Tunes/Peenko gig, so just in case you've missed me blabbing about it all month, here's a reminder of the details.

Venue wise we're on the move again. The final Aye Tunes solo gig took place at The Roxy 171 at the tail end of last year, and we're taking this gig back there.

We've roped in a trio of my favourite singing men with guitars for this.

Headlining affairs is the magnificent Beerjacket. I've never been short on praise for Beerjacket, having been a fan since before this blog even properly started up. Animosity was an Aye Tunes album of the year, although it was also one of my earliest attempts at reviewing something, the results of which I can't bear to read it was so badly written.
Beerjacket will be playing songs we know and love, but will also be playing some brand new songs that'll be on his next album. This gig will be your first chance to hear some of the new stuff, and a rare chance to see Beerjacket in a teeny tiny venue instead of somewhere much bigger.

Shambles Miller is another well known face round here, having popped up on the blog a ton of times, and having played at a previous Aye Tunes gig too. Shambles is never short of a witty remark, but in between those he'll make you think and perhaps even give the heartstrings a wee yank. Come and see, smile, and marvel at his trusty and long serving flyer introducing himself. I'd say don't start him talking about Mike Tyson and/or Chris Brown, but he's got a song about them now, so that's sorted.

Lovers Turn To Monsters round off both the line up for the night, and my wee list of favourite singer/songwriter types. West Lothian's answer to Robert Pollard, it seems you can barely go a month without Kyle, he of the lengthy stage name, firing out a new batch of songs. The scary thing is that there's almost never a duff one. When not knocking out hit after hit of his own he also has a fine knack for doing other people's songs. I've long wanted to have Lovers Turn To Monsters play at one of my gigs, so I'm happy that's happening at last (although I did have Boygirlanimalcolor play the first Aye Tunes gig). Hmm, I wonder if I can get him to play Batman Forever?

The gig takes place on Saturday 23rd February, at The Roxy 171 on Great Western Road. Things should kick off around 8pm. There's a Facebook event here, if you are into that kind of thing.

Now, when I see people saying things like "buy tickets quick, there's not many left!" I usually picture them sitting amidst a pile of unsold tickets. Not when I say it though. The small size of The Roxy, and me essentially being the box office for the gig, means I can honestly tell you we've got a single figure number of tickets remaining for this one. Should you want to come then, you should probably get one of those remaining tickets quickly, which you can do here.

Gig Tomorrow, Plug Plug Plug

We didn't have time to change the poster

It's time, once again, to remind you that I'm doing stuff. Tomorrow (Saturday Jan 26th, in case you aren't reading this on the day it was written) is the third of the gigs put on by myself, Neil from Scottish Fiction and Lloyd from Peenko, with the witty and creative Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes Vs Peenko title. Suggestions for snappier promotional titles welcome. I suggested SPAFT, since it includes the initials from all our blogs. This suggestion was, correctly, dismissed.

We're moving to The 13th note for this one, with the fun kicking off from around 8pm. It'll only cost you six pounds to get in.

Here's what you'll get for your money.

Black International - stepping in at the last minute for the sadly unable to appear King Post Kitsch, the Edinburgh two piece gathered rave reviews for their recent King Tuts gig, so come catch them before they get huge egos and demand a rider that would bankrupt me! They also happen to be a huge favourite of mine, so I'm happy to have them back.


Plastic Animals - another big favourite round here, and another band who I apparently haven't robbed blind or offended, since this will be their second gig with me involved. This lot make lovely noise.


The Yawns - and a band I've not put on before! Their debut album caught a fair bit of attention when released last year, and this gig is the last on The Yawns's UK tour to promote the launch of the album on lovely, shiny vinyl. You'll be able to hear lots of songs and buy a record if you wish.



Hugs - lurk near Neil, Lloyd or myself and chances are you'll get hugged. Especially later in the night when we've been drinking. Don't let that put you off though.

The Skinny said "go find a new favourite band" about the gig, and who am I to disagree? Well, these bands are already amongst my favourites, but that's not the point.

So that's Saturday the 26th, at The 13th Note, doors open at 8, and six quid in.

Self Promotion Alert

Behold my mighty Paint skills.

This time last week we were hours away from the first Scottish Fiction/Aye Tunes/Peenko blogger circle jerk gig. It went pretty well, good bands and a decent crowd. Rather than do the sensible thing and hibernate for a bit, I have two more gigs in the next three weeks. Let me tell you about them.

First up is another of my solo ventures, as I dust of the ever insightful Aye Tunes Presents label for another gig. As is normal with these gigs now, I'm off to yet another venue this time round. The gig will be in the intimate surroundings of The Roxy 171 on great Western Road. You know the one, it used to be The Liquid Ship ages ago.

Young Philadelphia are the latest in a line of two piece bands making lovely big walls of noise. Debut EP RESI was a deliciously teeth rattling slab of experimental noisy rock, and my ears are still ringing a bit as I write this from seeing them last night. I can hardly wait to see what they do to the small space of The Roxy.



Easter I first heard on a tip from Song, by Toad. As with many other bands I've first heard from there, it was a darn fine tip. Their debut album Innocence Man was released earlier this year, and is a gorgeous bit of work, one of my favourite things I've heard this year. I'm delighted then to be welcoming them to Glasgow, all the way from Manchester, for this leg of their current tour. Shades of Pavement, Sebadoh, The Wedding Present and more of that ilk mean Easter would quite happily slot in on a compilation tape of my favourite bands. They aren't afraid of getting loud either, so there's a chance of some Scanners style head exploding on the evening.



LeThug have been pleasantly tickling my ears for a while now and I've been keen to drag them into doing some kind of gig for me for the best part of this year. Naturally then I'm chuffed that the stars aligned this time round, and they'll be getting the evening going. Bits of ambient electonica, drone, and fuzzy shoegaze all add up to a mighty tasty musical pie. Yum yum.

Demo by LeThug

Tickets for this gig can be bought in advance for £5 here, or you can pay on the door on the night, where it'll cost you £6.
If you are into Facebook you can indicate your attendance here.
This will be my last solo venture into gig putting on for the year. Maybe longer, but certainly for the year.

After that gig is done, I get to rest for, ooh, a whole week!

The second Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes Vs Peenko takes place on the last Saturday of the month, November 24th, again at The Flying Duck.
We've got a couple of old friends dropping by for this one, in the shape of Campfires In Winter, who played at the very first Aye Tunes Vs Peenko gig, and Behold the Old Bear, who played at my last Aye Tunes gig. Some of Behold the Old Bear also played the first AVP, but let's not confuse things.
Joining them is the fab Gav Prentice. Gav just released his debut solo album, and we'll be helping him give The Invisible Hand a good old launching.
Again, you can tell us you are coming over on Facebook.
Tickets for this one cost £6, available on the door or in advance 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Last Year's Girl's Friday Night Speakeasy - A Reminder and a Contest

Off camera - alien spacecraft.

I did a full preview of this gig a few weeks ago, you can read it here, but now that the night is almost upon is, I figured I'd throw out a wee reminder. Not only that, but read to the bottom and you can win something!

Anyway, short version, Last Year's Girl is putting on a gig on Friday night, with Franz Nicolay, Chris T-T and Dave Hughes.

Last Year's Girl's Friday Night Speakeasy takes place at The Old Hairdressers, right across from Stereo on Renfield Lane in Glasgow, on Friday (funny that) December 2nd, you can buy tickets here.

Now, cause Lisa-Marie is pretty nice, she's offered me a free ticket (just the one, this isn't a bloody charity you know, and putting on gigs is expensive) to give away to an Aye Tunes reader. To have a chance of winning answer me this question: Chris T-T recently put a writer's poems to music, what was the name of the writer? Email answers to competition@ayetunes.org.uk, along with your name.
Competition closes at 11am on Friday morning, then I'll pick out a winner at random and inform them by email, so it'll help if you have access to email on Friday afternoon or I might think you dingy me when I tell you you've won.
You should also be able to come to the gig on Friday. You'd think that would be obvious, but I've had competition winners before realise they couldn't go to the gig they won tickets for,.
If the question seems a bit hard for you and you are too lazy to Google, then you can listen to and buy the Chris T-T songs in question here.

This Week's Gigs: 22nd - 27th November

What happens when there are lots of gigs this week that I want to get mentions in for, but writing about them individually would take ages? I bring back the gig guide. Not an exhaustive list of everything on this week, but some of the highlights.

Tuesday:
Black International, Birdhead, Vasquez. Captains Rest.
My love for Black International should already be well known. I haven't seen them in ages, possibly since my birthday gig, so I'll be taking myself along on Tuesday to catch them. Really liked Birdhead's Talons EP from earlier in the year too, so looking forward to finally getting around to seeing them. Birdhead say the last time they played in Glasgow there was an audience of zero people, so some of you should come along too and make sure that doesn't happen again. Vasquez aren't half bad either.

Wednesday:
Miaoux Miaoux Album Preview Show. Captains Rest.
Another of my favourites, Miaoux Miaoux will be showing off some songs from the new album he has been working away at. Miaoux Miaoux has roped in some special guests to help out too, and he'll be joined on Wednesday by Paul Carlin (Ghost Pants/Dananananaykroyd), Profisee, Kris Ferguson (Mitchell Museum) and Anna Miles (Maple Leaves), which all sounds rather brilliant to me.

Wounded Knee, Hal Duncan, Andrew Raymond Drennan, De Selby. The 13th Note.
Also rather tempting on Wednesday is this gig. Wounded Knee has just re-released his House Music album through Gerry Loves Records - you can buy it here - and is always entertaining, both on record and live. De Selby count some Second Hand Marching Band members amongst their number, and are also rather good.
Sparrow and the Workshop, Martin John Henry, Two Wings. Nice & Sleazy. (Tickets)
At which point Wednesday officially starts taking the piss. Both Sparrow and the Workshop and Martin John Henry are ace.

Friday:
Pin Up Nights 8th Birthday. The Flying Duck.
Aww bless, Pin Up Nights is getting all grown up! Helping our favourite club night in Glasgow celebrate their birthday are Laurence and the Slab Boys, Johnny and the Giros, The Callas and Electric Gardens, after which the Pin Ups DJs will be doing their thing till the wee hours of the night.
Idiosync 3: If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now, Without Aeroplanes. The Common Rooms.
Free entry and two good bands, there you go.
Sick Kids, Casual Sex, Black Jash. The 13th Note.
One to confuse people searching for weird stuff. Sick Kids are launching an EP, which is pretty good. Both the music and the whole launching thing. We also approve of the support bands.
The Winter Tradition, The Bronze Medal, We're Only Afraid of NYC. Captains Rest.
For the first time in aaaaaages I'll be missing a We're Only Afraid of NYC gig. Bah!

Saturday:
Django Django, Robert Redford, She's Hit, Killer Street. Nice & Sleazy.
In which we all pretend we don't know who Robert Redford are. Good other bands too though.
Findlay Napier and the Bar Room Mountaineers. WRI Hall, Comrie.
This gig exposes my lack of geography knowledge, as I have no idea where Comrie even is.

Sunday:
Withered Hand, Samantha Crain, Mike MacFarlane.Henry's Cellar Bar.
A Song, by Toad gig, and a good looking one.
Loch Lomond, The Last of Barrett's Privateers, Pronto Mama. Sneaky Pete's.
See, I do know Edinburgh exists. Loch Lomond are ace, and I should really get round to writing about their new album sooner or later.
Muscles of Joy, Palms, DJ Jamie Grier. Oran Mor.
The wee bit I've heard of Muscles of Joy has been good, and this is a launch gig for their debut album. Must get my mitts on a copy.
Song of Return, Atlas : Empire. Nice & Sleazy.
Song of Return are launching their new EP, and it'll also be their last gig in a while, so get along if you want to see them.

Bloggers Doing Gigs - Last Year's Girl

Not pictured - a crazed axe murderer.

I seem to have fought off the gremlins that killed my computer, fingers crossed on that score. Now I can get back to just having myself to blame for a lack of posts.

At the weekend I mentioned that one of my blogging pals is moving into gig putting on too, well, The Vinyl Villain isn't the only one.

My mate Lis - famous on the internet as Last Year's Girl - is also at it. I pretty much have to plug this gig as (a) she quoted my “Bloggers putting on gigs? It’ll never catch on…” line on her press release, (b) it looks pretty ace and (c) I'm pretty sure she could, and would, batter me if I don't.

Back in June Lis drew up a list of 30 things to do before she hits 30 - cheers Lis for making me feel old every time you mention that too - one of which was "put on a gig". Rather than take the easy option of hiring The 13th Note and getting some local pals to pitch in to play (stop looking at me like that, I've only hired The Note once), she's been a good bit more adventurous.

Since our Lisa-Marie is much better at writing things than I am, I'll just apologise for the cut & paste nature of the next bit and go over to her to tell you who is playing Last Year's Girl's Friday Night Speakeasy.

Franz Nicolay has the face of a villain, but the heart of a vaudevillian. He specialises in moustaches, raconteuring and the sort of antiquated instruments such as banjo, accordion and musical saw it’s pretty awkward to get through customs. He has played with a few bands you may have heard of (The Hold Steady, Against Me!, Guignol, The World/Inferno Friendship Society), and released two albums of solo material that are even better. If you want to see him make a third one, you could contribute to his Kickstarter pledge drive. He feels as weird about it as you do.

Brighton-based Chris T-T tried to be a political songwriter, but Billy Bragg said he didn’t exist so he went back to writing about bunny rabbits instead. Sorry, what? That was a song about communism, you say? You might have seen him set the works of AA Milne to music at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, or joined in one of his acts of civil disobedience through the use of social media (#IAmSpartacus). He is currently working on his eighth album of original material.

Dave Hughes plays folk music without the scarves, handclaps or tambourines. Before buying a car he pretty much invented the Megabus tour, which is the only explanation for that time he ended up playing to a hen party in Birmingham. He does not sound like Ed Sheeran, and does not get offended if you describe his performance as “ramshackle” with or without his Renegade Folk Punk Band. His latest release is the six-track Despite the Blackout EP, on Corporate Records.

Last Year's Girl's Friday Night Speakeasy takes place at The Old Hairdressers, right across from Stereo on Renfield Lane in Glasgow, on Friday (funny that) December 2nd.
You can buy tickets, and we all know you want to buy a ticket, here.

Now Lis, when do we get that podcast that's on your list too?

Bloggers Doing Gigs - The Vinyl Villain

This time one year ago exactly I was in full of panic mode. Why? Well, one year ago tonight was Aye Tunes Vs Peenko 3, and I'm always a nervous wreck before a gig I'm putting on. That one, planned as the last AVP gig until we came back for one in August of this year, was particularly nerve wracking as we were leaving the lovely but pokey confines of the venues for 1 & 2, The Captain's Rest and The 13th Note, for the much larger Classic Grand, the fear that no one would turn up was magnified by having a venue twice the size of the previous ones. People did come along though, and I Build Collapsible Mountains, Come On Gang! and The Seventeenth Century all did us proud.
(Incidentally, The Seventeenth Century are playing at The 13th Note tonight, so if you are looking for something to do...)

None of that has anything to do with this post really, but today does seem like a fitting time to get in a plug for something I would be doing a bit of blethering about anyway.

You see, another of my blogging buddies is turning his hand to gig promotion. Along with Song, by Toad and 17 Seconds, both of which have long since gone beyond being just blogs, The Vinyl Villain is one of the blogs that I've been reading for what seems like forever. Fun trivia, JC from The Vinyl Villain and I not only share initials, but our birthdays fall on the same day too. Turns out it has been around 5 years, as the blog celebrated its birthday at the end of September. To celebrate JC is throwing a pretty special birthday party in a couple of weeks, which looks well worth attending.

The gig takes place on Saturday November 19th, at Langside Hall on the southside of Glasgow.
Playing on the night are Butcher Boy, a band I was first introduced to through reading The Vinyl Villain, with support from Adam Stafford, who of course we got the AVP gang back together for back in August.
Tickets are £8, and available now here.

Butcher Boy - Imperial

Adam Stafford - Fire & Theft

Something To Do On A Sunday Night: Elliott Smith Night

Sunday night, it's a bit rubbish really isn't it? Ironing shirts, having a bath, watching someone you mildly detest get eliminated from a TV show you hate yourself for watching.

Want to do something much better with your Sunday night? Want to help out a charity while enjoying yourself?
Get yourself along to Mono from 7:30pm then, for a night of music celebrating Elliott Smith.

Elliott is pretty much one of my favourite songwriters ever, and finding out he'd died is a moment that will always be stuck in my head, as I learned as I was sitting having a pint in the 13th Note before heading out to see friends, who the same day were celebrating the birth of their first child. Swings and roundabouts, eh?

Taking to the stage to cover some Elliott Smith songs are The Big Nowhere (who you might remember from my birthday party, although my memory is quite hazy), Endor, Male Pattern Band, Perestroika, members of Monoganon and more, with an open mic at the end.

Doors open at 7:30, entry will cost you £4, and all proceeds go to Aberlour Children's Charity.

There's also the promise of a raffle and cake (pictured below)

Elliott Smith - Kiwi Maddog 20/20