Last year James Mathe aka Barbarossa decamped to the Analogue Catalogue studio in the hills outside Manchester to record the follow-up to 20072s " Chemical Campfires ". Exclusively using analogue kit (Casio keyboards, vintage synths and old drum machines) and with Adem of " Homesongs " fame at the production helm we're now seeing the first fruits of that labour. "Butterfly Plague " arrives on June 12th as part of Fence Records Chart Ruse series ( preorder ). The video marks the directorial debut of actor, film-maker and James' partner, Montserrat Lombard. To [...]
Friday, the second day of The Great Escape and I awake with a pretty clear head. After nearly thirty years of existence and almost half of them drinking more than I should I've finally learned that ale is the drink that thanks you the next day. My first act of the day is an early one at midday, Martha Paton at Komedia. I arrive and she's just started, she looks younger than I had in my head and her band look even younger. Don't let that detract you though, she's got a lovely voice [...]
![[Introducing] – Frànçois And The Atlas Mountains](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4046525_lg.jpg)
Tweet As the story goes, when Frànçois Marry arrived in Bristol, England from France in 2003, he wrote a note accompanied by a picture asking for people to make music together with, taped it in his window, then proceeded to check out local car boot sales for instruments. Starting out with a hodgepodge of found instruments (including a keyboard he played with his foot), Frànçois began playing live in Bristol in early 2004. 2005 - 2007 saw him collaborating with various local [...]
Well one thing's for sure, live in Edinburgh this week will very much not be me. I have a rather nasty flu/tonsillitis throat infection thingy (I'm not a doctor so I am not sure which, but you know the kind of thing I mean) and it means that swallowing is extraordinarily painful, even if it is gin. I am not sure that soaking the paracetamol in alcohol particularly aids in its efficacy either, but as I said, I am not a doctor. We, of course, have our next Ides of Toad gig on Sunday, when the [...]
There's a purity about Rachael Dadd that makes me go all warm and fuzzy. Give me this little lady with a banjo any day and I'll be a happy, sincerely happy, muso. Her latest release, the gorgeous 'Elephee' EP, is astounding. This set of raw yet beautiful recordings captures Rachael at her charming best, and it's perfect Sunday afternoon listening. Five tracks of brilliant lo-fi goodness and I can say in all honesty there is nothing bad to say about the EP; hats off to the amazing Broken Sound Music, who seem to be guiding Rachael [...]
Given I have now sworn off festivals with a population over about five thousand, I think it's only fair that I start noseying around some of the smaller ones and seeing what they have to offer. I have loved Homegame and Pickathon, narrowly missed out on the Insider and Kelburn, but I think I will be making it to this one: Doune the Rabbit Hole on the 30th and 31st July. I don't really know the organisers, but they're two young lads from Glasgow taking a chance, apparently, and my friend Ed from the Roxy is [...]
Of course it would need to be a world stops spinning type masterpiece to eclipse the original but Rozi Plain almost achieves the impossible. On this occasion 'The Lang Toun' might be decidedly shorter but the wide-eyed nature of Plain's reworking is bright and skittish. No wonder our very own Maeve Higgins has used it to great effect in her new cooking programme. Could she do for food what Tommy Cooper did for magic? I hope so because she really is a gas (hob). Rozi Plain released her debut 'Inside Over Here' on Fence Records (the [...]
Funnily enough, the most interesting music events this week are being held as part of the film festival. Not funny "ha ha", though. Happy Monday. Wednesday 24th June 2009: All Tomorrow's Parties documentary at the Picture House This is something rather special. It's described as a" unique 360 degree music event". Firstly, the film sounds incredible. It's compiled from footage contributed by both fans and artists at the festival, shot on super 8, digital and mobile phone, as well as footage from Vincent Moon ( the Take-Away [...]
As you can see I have complied with Mrs. Toad's request to stop featuring cutesy Edinburgh pictures on these little posts and put up some pictures of radgy wee neds instead. This is something I think she feels is more representative of a kind of Edinburgh life that tends to be ignored ( for more such pictures, go here, it's hilarious ). I play football regularly in Craigmillar, often against teams from there or alternatively from lovely places like Craigour, Niddrie and other delightful Edinburgh tourist spots. I've actually been threatened with being knifed something like three [...]
Podcast 05: July 08 (1 hour 06mins) - (download MP3) Subscribe itunes Tracklist: Robin Saville - " Player Piano " Polarbear - " David (Live in Scroobius Pip's Spoken Word Surgery) " Jimmy Pryde - " The Hens March " Rozi Plain - " The Lang Toun " Micachu - " Golden Phone " LH1 - " Radio Rage " Kamaj [...]
LACK OF AFRO " Press On " the debut album from Lack Of Afro was one of the albums of 2007, effortlessly straddling the cool crowd and the less so. The lovingly crafted samples, and stomping funk had the Hoxton set convinced the Avalanches had made a funk album, while Radio 2 lapped up the tunes and the inspired use of Steve Harriet's golden voice on killer single " Touch My Soul ". Brilliant though it was, I approached the live show with some trepidation... how would such a heavily sample based album translate up [...]
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