Lancastrian Rob St John has been on my radar for a while with his creaking, stripped back psych-folk recordings, but I've always found his songs a little too sparse for me to fully embrace. By reworking the traditional song of his county in Charcoal Black and the Bonny Grey, however, I have finally found a path into his sound. This was a song of the industrial revolution originally sung to Cecil Sharp by J Collinson of Casterton, Lancashire in 1905, and is the sound of worlds colliding. A world of folk music traditions , with movements of urgency, [...]
Salford is to Manchester pretty much what Leith is to Edinburgh - the scummy port town which is close enough to be pretty much part of the city, but still maintains a separate identity. And indeed Salford may be a good way behind Leith in this aspect, but it too seems to be slowly becoming nicer and nicer, and shrugging off some of its rough image. Salford has a very long way to go I suppose, but there does seem to be a fair bit of decent arty stuff happening down there at the moment, which tends to be how [...]
Salford is to Manchester pretty much what Leith is to Edinburgh - the scummy port town which is close enough to be pretty much part of the city, but still maintains a separate identity. And indeed Salford may be a good way behind Leith in this aspect, but it too seems to be slowly becoming nicer and nicer, and shrugging off some of its rough image. Salford has a very long way to go I suppose, but there does seem to be a fair bit of decent arty stuff happening down there at the moment, which tends to be how [...]
On Mayday (yes, tomorrow) we shall be celebrating the release of the new Rob St. John double A-side single Charcoal Black and the Bonny Grey/Shallow Brown which you can buy from Song, by Toad Records here . Both of these tunes have been staples of Rob's live set for quite a while now, and last year he assembled a Coven Choir of his regular associates and we recorded versions of these songs live in the main studio* here at Toad Hall. It was all pretty live and creaky, with the cracks and groans of our [...]
Originally featured on Eaten by Monsters Rob St.John has always been a favourite here at Eaten by Monsters , and new releases of his are eagerly awaited and avidly consumed. It's always been clear, however, that his music is very much an acquired taste. To the unprepared, his ghostlike baritone and the meandering, lilting nature of his records can easily sweep far over their heads. Thankfully for St.John and those of us who follow his efforts, he is not short of supporters and chief amongst [...]
So, Record Store Day is over, the subsequent hangover dispatched, a tedious day of sitting around waiting to find out about jury service has been put to bed. I've been out to Bathgate in order to be fucking terrible at football, returned to Edinburgh to watch United claim their 20th title, and now here I sit at my computer wondering what the rest of the week holds for me. Boundless excitement, I am pretty sure. Actually, after last week's Beer vs. Records (bored of that yet?) and the forthcoming Sparrow and the Workshop album launch shows, there is still a [...]
Rob St. John is going on tour next week, with nights booked in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Cambridge and Bristol. These dates serve as launch nights for Rob's new single, which is released on Mayday (1 May), and is a 7” single of two traditional songs Charcoal Black and the Bonny Grey and Shallow Brown . If you’ve been to a show in the last year, you’ve doubtless heard both. The recordings were done in a day with a Coven Choir of Tom Western, Bart Owl, Malcolm Benzie and Owen Williams, and are a fair bit more free-form and fractured than [...]
By Cat Schaupp April 18, 2013 Vox Box is the new kid on the block in Edinburgh's record store scene, having only opened in May 2011. Nestled in the quirky treasure trove that is St. Stephen's Street in the city's Stockbridge district, they'll be celebrating Record Store Day 2013 in style with a 9.30am opening time that's kind to those who can't quite get out of bed on Saturdays, and a great line up of live music to keep the punters entertained. Muso's [...]
This week is, of course, the week of Record Store Day where we hopefully remember that record shops are nice places to spend time and money and resolve to go there more often, rather than just fight for the exclusive scraps scattered like breadcrumbs for pigeons. Understandably, most of the gig action this week is focussed on that very event, and naturally I am going to tell you that *cough cough* our stuff is by far the most awesome. It is though. We have the Beer vs. Records launch at Summerhall on [...]
Yes, it's that time of year again, the time when we shower you with bounteous goodness from the vaults of Toad, in the form of our annual label sampler. It is free to download from Bandcamp , with the slight proviso that you sign up to our mailing list, from which you can unsubscribe instantly at any time you choose, if I happen to bore you to tears with my constant entreaties to buy our records. Which I won't, of course, our newsletters are fucking awesome. On this edition of the sampler we are taking the opportunity [...]
As with previous years Song By Toad Records have made a free eleven song sampler available on Bandcamp of some of the releases they have planned for 2013 (and a couple of late ones from 2012). They include new signings Sparrow & The Workshop (see our post earlier today ) and Adam Stafford as well as established favourites such as Meursault, Rob St. John, Lil Daggers and Plastic Animals . You can get it for an e-mail address just by clicking here . [...]
Welcome to 2013, Toadcast listeners. As is tradition around these parts, we start the year with a podcast of songs we will be releasing this year on Song, by Toad Records, combined with a few we have released quite recently. There are a few things I didn't put on here, because it seemed a shame to spill the beans too early - we have a new Rob St. John single coming soon, as well as a new album by The Leg and that collaborative album between Jill from Sparrow and the Workshop, Neil and Pete from Meursault, Rory [...]
My folks are spending a couple of months in Rottingdean down on the South coast, and after the Meursault, Rob St. John and Withered Hand gig at the Islington Assembly Hall in London on Tuesday I have come down to spend a few days with them, before pootling on back to Edinburgh tomorrow. This may not excuse but most certainly does explain the fact that the blog has been slightly more erratic than usual this week. I've squeezed in posts where I can, but parents don't take all that kindly to you spending your entire visit buggering about [...]
As you may have noticed, there is a somewhat mysterious band on the bill for this Friday's BAD FUN gig at Henderson's at St. John's called the Ghost Crystal Wolf Toads, or something like that. Who the fuck are this lot, you might be asking. Well I shall tell you. Firstly, they are very much not the Crystal Bear Ghost Toads, for starters. In fact, we don't know what they're called yet, that's just a smart-arsed placeholder name which I figured would do for putting on the posters for BAD FUN. What [...]
There's an awful lot of Song, by Toad Records stuff going on at the moment, and a lot of people have been very kind about our recent releases so I thought I would round it all up for you in one quick post. The Leg Their last single An Eagle to Saturn is getting a spin on Chris Hawkins' breakfast show from 5-7am tomorrow morning on 6Music. If you miss it tomorrow, then just follow that link to to listen again anytime in the next seven days. [...]
Scottish band and Song, By Toad favorite, Meursalt, will perform live at London's Islington Assembly Hall on Tuesday, November 6th. The band will be accompanied by a full string section called The Pumpkin Seeds. Labelmates Rob St. John and Withered Hand will also perform. Sounds like a very cool concert to me. Check out the [...]
I think you have to agree that the lineup of this gig alone does the selling, doesn't it. After the success of their album launch at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh, Meursault are playing a one-off gig at the Islington Assembly Hall in London with a full string section, affectionately known as the Pumpkin Seeds. Due to the cost and logistical implications of this kind of undertaking this will be something of a one-off, so I wouldn't pass it up if I were you, as who knows the next time we'll be able to do it [...]
See that video above? That's a film trailer, that is, for a Jeremy Deller short on the life and work of Bruce Lacey. Jeremy Deller is a Turner Prize winner, and Bruce Lacey is having an entire special event thingy dedicated to him at the British Film Institute. What does this have to do with us, you might wonder. And as you are most definitely wondering, I think I shall tell you. That wee twinkly bit at the start of the YouTube trailer above was performed by Rob St. John and Tom [...]
As this evening brings us yet another excellent Ides of Toad lineup at Henry's (it's starting pretty much now - run, you might make it!) I thought I should probably write out another one of those lists of upcoming stuff, just so it lodges in the back of your mind now, and then you can all flood down in your droves on the night, filling the bands with joy and making me an unspeakably rich man in the process. Well, it'd be nice if at least a few of you came anyway. This is where I feel I [...]
The PR blurb for this states the following: "BioFresh is a European Union project which is putting together the scattered pieces of information about life in our rivers and lakes, to better understand, manage and protect our freshwaters for generations to come." In essence, that's all you need to know, I suppose. This is a music blog, so I guess some of you will find this a compelling reason to investigate further and some will not. I hope you do though, because it looks like a very interesting project. Rob St. [...]
The Blue Walrus
Song, by Toad
the Eaten by Monsters blog
Muso's Guide
Mad Mackerel's Blog
Muruch
MP3: Daft Punk – “Horizons” (RAM Japanese Bonus Track)
Mix/Cover/Live #887 (feat. Yalls & more)
Le Fever :: "White Hearts"
Amici 2013: Verdiana Zangaro vincitrice? Sì perché è la più brava, no perché non è la più amata
Listen to Pharrell Williams' new track, 'Happy'
