Ah, Tartan Shortbread, that most wonderful of sardonic Scottish put-downs. For those unfamiliar with the term, this is the offhand dismissal used to describe the sort of mawkish, clichéd tourist tat which masquerades as Scottish heritage and culture for those with woefully little imagination. Alternatively, I suppose you could say that Tartan Shortbread is a blanket term for Scottish heritage as a sort of motorway service station take on national identity. Anyhow, given I work very much at the coalface of the DIY music world in Scotland, I find that I have been oddly unsupportive of [...]
Holy fuck my brain is still resisting any and all attempts to get it working again. I lived on a boat down in London, and I remember when I first bought the thing it was semi-submerged, and I had to pump out the engine compartment just to get the old Lister engine above water for the first time in about two years. Even after two years under the fucking Thames, all I had to do was crank it manually a couple of times to flush the water out, replace the battery, press start and boom, the ancient bastard [...]
Well if there's any shit going down in Edinburgh this week I am not going to be there to enjoy it. Not out of shame at having just used the term 'shit going down' as if I was a teenager in the nineties, but because my gigfuns will be happening in London and Glasgow this week. Tomorrow I am in London to see Rob St. John and Neil from Meursault play at the Vortex, and then on Thursday I'll be in Glasgow for the Fence Records Christmas party. And funnily enough, with Detour, Frightened Rabbit and Jill O'Sullivan [...]
So umm... much happening in Edinburgh at the moment? There seem to be an awful lot of people about, so you'd have to assume something was going on. It was actually the T on the Fringe (what the Edge Festival used to be called) lineup which gave me a significant nudge into the world of DIY music, when I first moved up here, just before the Festival in 2005. I really wanted to go and see Yo La Tengo at the Liquid Room, Mrs. Toad wasn't going to come with me, I didn't know anyone else who might [...]
Well after an extremely successful Ides of Toad on Saturday (a massive thanks to the excellent bands, and to the fucking loads of people who came along) I think this week I shall be putting my feet up and letting other people do the work for a bit. And what a fuck of a lot of work they've been doing, too, because this week is a bit mental in terms of excellent gigs at which to drink yourself into an early grave. So much for the pre-Festival wind-down I discussed last week. As well as having [...]
So, whilst the first half of 2010 was relatively quiet on the live music front, August was absolute mayhem. And as the dust settles on another festival period, and we try to assess the physical and financial damage in a calm and orderly fashion, it doesn't look like things are slowing down on the gig radar. Which I'm rather pleased about. Monday 6 th September 2010: Miaoux Miaoux and Wounded Knee at Electric Circus . Bart's House . Sneaky [...]
I feel really weird this morning. Partly I am whizzed off my tits on painkillers, which at least makes the back pain manageable, and partly I took the advice from this thread a little too seriously last night. Ouch. Pills, Caol Ila and Ardbeg: not a winning combination by the time the morning after comes around. So there's no chat this week, you'll be pleased to know. Here are some gigs. Go to them. But good luck picking what to do on Wednesday, because I've no fucking idea myself. Wednesday 23rd September 2009: [...]
Greetings everyone - I trust we've all obediently clambered back onto the tediously repetetive hamster wheel we laughably call Proper Job. Here I sit at my desk, surrounded by people actually taking things seriously, vainly hoping that they can't really tell that I really don't give a shit and hoping they'll kindly let me get on with my life as unencumbered by actual, meaningful tasks as possible. There's no need to recover from Christmas in our house. Mrs. Toad and I only really drank a lot about three or four times over the holidays, and even [...]
You won't see much of me at gigs this week, because my little brother is visiting. I am gutted at having to miss the Major Matt Mason gig last night, but I just ended up being too tired and having too much to do in too little time. Samamidon is playing in Edinburgh next Monday, so that needs to be publicised. He's a bit good, and Meursault are doing an acoustic slot in support, so it promises to be an amazing night. The gig is going to be at the Bowery , which is [...]
It's encouraging to know that we're not the only ones getting all over-excited about Indietracks goodies. Those rather lovely Occasional Flickers , saviours of the Greek indiepop scene no less, are now looking to give away a copy of their whole discography to one lucky indiepopper! Their fantastic prize includes the following: Rain Until Monday 7" (2002, Help Ever Hurt Never Records) Scattered Songs CD (2007, Plastilina Records) When the Sky Looks So Gray 3" CD (2007, Cloudberry Records) All you have to do to win is answer the question "How many paperbacks can [...]
Of course there is one and only one gig worth attending in Edinburgh this week: the Song, by Toad Records Launch Party! It is the official line of this publication that no other gigs are even happening, never mind worth turning up to. Some arse has managed to sneak in some rogue listings [...]
Pathetic. Really pathetic. Our blog hasn't even had its 3-month anniversary and I'm already experiencing what I believe is called writer's block. It's not fair. I was supposed to have one of those man-that's-beautiful-I-wish-I- had-written-that sort of posts. I had an idea for it... Well, if you must know, I was gonna talk about my summers and how I feel they will be getting a lot warmer from now on because of the Occasional Flickers. But for the life of me I can't find anything remotely interesting to say about them. Which is really a shame, because they [...]
It's another solid week of gigs this week, with a couple of lesser-known groups popping up and the chance for me to see new discovery The Byrons play at the ARK, which promises to be good. Mrs. Toad's away this week, so I have free reign to go out as many nights as I please [...]
É tão bom quando você ouve umas 4, 5 músicas de uma banda nova e todas elas soam agradáveis. A gente até fica torcendo pra banda emplacar e continuar lançando bons sons. Foi o que me aconteceu com o The Ocassional Flickers , banda inglesa de Edinburgh, cujo som lembra o som do The Pastels e de bandas da Sarah Records, mas de umm jeito bem suave. Está lançando seu último EP pela Cloudberry Recordings (uma das melhores sem dúvida na minha opinião). As músicas que estou deixando para download são aleatórias, são as que consigui achar [...]
So one more week before school starts again for me. I may go see Thurston Moore solo tomorrow at the Knitting Factory. Besides that not much is going on. New Mountain Goats album coming out though called Heretic Pride . Got to love the lo-fi. Mountain Goats - Sax Rohmer #1 Architecture in Helsinki - Heart it Races Wye Oak - Warning The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead The Occasional Flickers - [...]
Tuesday morning? Ugh. Let's be honest here: working sucks. There is not point in dredging that up every week. We all wish we didn't have to wor...
[mp3] The Occasional Flickers " A Word of a Friend " (via indie mp3 )
The Occassional Flickers are originally from Athens, Greece. The band centres around Giorgos who has since relocated to Edinburgh. Judging by the bands "Scottish" sound you would have thought that is where he originally hailed from! Giorgos has been going under the Occasional Flickers guise for a couple of years now and the début album Scattered Songs has just been released on Peru's Plastilna Records which is the home to the likes of Annemarie and Amida amongst others. If you head over to My Space you will [...]
Song, by Toad
Indietracks festival
Letters Have No Arms
The Crystal Lake
Whale Week
Radio Exile
Nomoreclouds
Indie MP3 - Keeping C86 Alive
Pictures Of Andre 3000 As Jimi Hendrix
The Corner Laughers “Poppy Seeds”
